Greetings all! Please accept my most sincere apologies for my prolonged absence... No I have not given up on my blog, though it has been just short of a month since my last post...
Here is a quick explanation as to why I was absent for such a long while... Not only have I been busy, I have also been sick. For a month, I had been coughing and hacking and truly sounding like someone on the verge of dying from Tuberculosis. Luckily, I suffered of no such illness, but it was more severe than a common cold. After three weeks of non-stop symptoms, I finally decided to consult a doctor. I was diagnosed with "Acute Bronchitis" and prescribed very strong antibiotics for a week. I am now completely cured: only slight seasonal sniffles remain...
However, I think that bronchitis is quite a good excuse for not blogging. I preferred spending my free-time sleeping and recovering, as I spent the rest of the time doing schoolwork and going to rehearsals for Savoy. In other words: zero motivation to do anything for the past few weeks. It is a natural consequence of being ill. I hope you (yes, dear reader, I am actually addressing my blog right now) will find it in your virtual heart to forgive my neglect...
Now, for the updates - as you have surely all spent a month in complete suspense, awaiting what would happen to me next (lol).
First and foremost... I got called back by Air Canada! I cannot tell you how happy this makes me! I will be working at the airport over the Christmas break and I am really excited about it. I do not have my new start date yet, but I do look forward to it. It promises to be a very busy time at the airport and I am always up for a challenge. I am excited to go back - it will certainly be more stimulating than school right now.
Indeed, school has, sadly, reached an ultimate low right now. I am not at all motivated, my classes suck. To be fair, this year, I am taking all the classes I am missing to complete my degree... but that does not make them interesting. I am bored out of my wits in class these days. The only class I enjoy is German Literature. Yes - my last elective happens to be the only class I enjoy this semester, and this because the professor is totally awesome. All my other classes will turn me into a mollusk if the subject matter does not improve. Case in point, Intro to Theatre Studies. I have not learnt a thing all semester. I have merely been bored. Everything the instructor mentionned was something I already knew, and she never explained any topic in depth. Many students have complained about knowing more about the subject before they ever took the class. *sigh* At least it is almost over. This week is the last week of classes and total "crunch time." I have three essays due this week, and after that I have four finals to worry about. Then I will be free to rant about passengers again! ;-)
In other news... I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Part 1 in theatres (twice!). Loved it! Some of the added dialogue (i.e. dialogue that is not in the books) is hilarious and well paced. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also liked how the overall movie was directed. There was a very dark mood throughout the film, and certain choices on the director's part emphasised this brilliantly. The one scene that did bother me was when Harry, Ron and Hermione are running from the Snatchers in the woods... the camera is handheld and "sort of" following the actors running away through the woods... But there were too many trees for this to be quite effective. The only result was that I became extremely nauseous looking at the screen (yup - I got motion sickness looking at a movie!). I think that this scene was supposed to be directed à la Bourne Trilogy, but that effect fell flat. The cut-off of the film was to be expected though - obviously, the battle of Hogwarts would be kept for part 2. They will probably have the second film based heavily on this arch of the story (rather than the three measly chapters dedicated to it in the books - I found the battle far too short...).
But yes, I much enjoyed the film. Daniel Radcliffe still sucks. Rupert Grint is awesome as ever. Emma Watson has improved but still leaves me indifferent. The adult actors, though, are flabbergasting. I loved Jason Isaacs and lamented the little screen time that had been granted to Alan Rickman. Ralf Fiennes was amazingly creepy and Helene Bonham-Carter was terrifyingly crazy. I really enjoyed watching them. ^_^ Before I move on to another subject, I have to let you all know that the Dark Wizards and Death Eaters (for the most part) wear very snazzy outfits in the movie... their "lordly" clothes look really hot!
The second time I went to see the movie, I went with Michael. We made a date out of it. I loved it. It was so much fun! We went to see the movie in a matinee (cheap and early) and then went winter-boot shopping and for a nice dinner. I dressed dapper for my love and truly enjoyed the time I spent with him. We really ought to date more - it is always so enjoyable when we do. *sigh* I love him!! (sorry for the sappiness...)
And... on to another subject...
I went to my very first SCA event on Saturday. The SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) is an awesome group that basically takes mildy insane people like myself, puts them in period garb, and has them pretend they lived back in the Middle-Ages for an evening (or weekend, depending on the event). The SCA does all kinds of workshops about Medieval cooking, crafts, fighting techniques, etc. I am considering going to their archery session - it sound like fun. The evening I went to was the Montreal SCA's harvest feast. It was a potluck of Medieval (or Medieval inspired) food. It. Was. DELICIOUS!!! I really loved the food! Entertainment was provided by all the participants: many got up to tell stories or sing. I was invited to dance on some fiddle music that sounded like a gig, so I made good use of the hornpipe gig that we learned for the upcoming Savoy show and got a great round of applause for my dancing (as well as many gasps when I lifted my skirt a little so my feet would be seen). All the people at the event were really nice and I look forward to meeting them again. One gentleman was a pirate and he sang the most bawdy songs I have ever heard! I had quite the laugh. Remind me to put the lyrics up here someday... Oh, and the same pirate gentleman had some amazingly delicious grog which kind of tasted like liquid Rocket candy! lol And I got many compliments on the gown I was wearing (see picture over my profile). People thought I was an "import" from another SCA kingdom, because my dress was so pretty and well constructed! Yay!!! ^_^
It was a great evening, and I would elaborate more if I did not have more to post about. I do want to thank Victoria, though, for accompanying me. It was really great!
Okay - now for the last (I think) bit of news in this post...
I have been asked by the organizer of Dr. Sketchy Montreal to model for them in January! I am so excited! I have wanted to participate in Dr. Sketchy for AGES and now I finally get to go as a model! I am very happy about this... and soooooo excited! For those who do not know what Dr. Sketchy is, it is a figure drawing workshop that invites lives models to pose for artists on a stage. The models usually work on a theme and wear costumes (it is not nude modeling) and pose for a certain amount of time for the artists, who may then sketch and draw to their heart's content. It is great fun and I look forward to posing for them! I will give you all more details as the date for my Dr. Sketchy appearance draws closer, but I had to mention it now, because I am really happy about it.
And before I forget: Michael and I (and our roommate) encountered a really eerie light last night. It sort of whizzed right in front of Michael, making him stop in his tracks (and me do a double-take, because I thought it would hit his eye), and then slowly trailed to the ground, whizzed accross the sidewalk and vanished. It was a small yellow light. Our roommate thinks it was someone using a laser pointer - but laser light is only visible when it hits a surface. This light was actually floating in the air in front of Michael's nose for a bit. Laser does not do that... it was a little creepy... I do not know what to make of it...
Also... I started working on my cosplays for next summer. I am looking forward to updating you all on my progress...
And now, dear readers, I believe you are all up-to-date. I will now go eat (as I am starving). I promise (really, I do!) more frequent posts in future - I no longer have bronchitis, so I have no excuse!!
Showing posts with label Fangirl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fangirl. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
In which there was an awesome party
Last night, the McGill Savoy Society (best student society in the world!) hosted a party in collaboration with Queer McGill (another awesome student society) called Into the Wild(e). The event refered specifically to Oscar Wilde, wildly famous (pun totally intended) author and poet who will never be forgotten thanks to his hilarious play, The Importance of Being Ernest, and to his dark novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Incidentally, has anyone seen the Dorian Gray movie which stars Ben Barnes and Collin Firth? It is absolutely AWESOME! Watch it if you can - it was sadly never released in Canada *cries*.
Here is the facebook description of the event, to give you a better idea of it:
Basically, it was a kick-ass dance party with lots of people in really cool costumes. Michael went as a respectable Victorian gentleman, my roommate went as a proper governess, and I myself went as a Victorian harlot. We looked awesome! The other costumes looked great too, but we truly rocked the house! We even came in with a backstory.
Here it is:
Mr. Beckett = Michael
Melinda Smythe = my roommate
Claire = Me
Claire was orphaned at a very young age and forced to live out her life in the misery of 19th century London. The hardships of life in the lower classes of London was difficult for her and, like many women who did not work in factories, Claire went for her only other option: prostitution.
However, on her sixteenth birthday, after being "on the market" for two years, Claire received the visit of a notary who held a large, fancy looking will. Claire was discovered to be the long lost daughter of a rich countess and the sole heiress to the fortune and title.
This is how, in her sixteenth year, Claire came to hire Melinda Smythe, a young and reputable governess, in order for her to be tought in the ways of high society and learn some proper manners and decorum. But old habits die hard and getting the streets of London out of the new aristocrat proove difficult for poor Melinda, who does try her hardest with the young harlot.
Luckily, during a party, a respectable gentleman, Mr. Beckett is introduced to Claire. He quickly becomes Claire's suitor and causes changes in Claire Melinda had never seen before. Will Mr. Beckett motivate Claire to become a true lady? Or is it all fleeting fancy and Melinda Smythe will have to give up on the girl? The dance party on Friday, October 15th will prove to be eye-opening...
lol
Okay - I will admit it... I had fun writing this crap just now. I know it is crap, so shush! It was fun. We went with these roles because of the ways we were dressed... I should have pictures up sometime soon.
The dance party was absolutely AWESOME! It was so great and we all had so much fun! Initially, I did not want to go at all, due to stormy weather and dreadfully strong winds (60 km/h). It had been a nightmare getting to school and back and the idea of braving the weather again did not appeal to me. But then we started on the costumes and then the fun started. It was so great, I do not regret walking around with exposed legs in high velocity winds at all! We finished off the evening nicely, after the party, eating fresh bagels with cream-cheese at 3 a.m. outside one of the most famous Montreal bagle places... It was GREAT! (I am sorry - other words fail me to describe the party... my mind is still a tad drowsy after going to bed so late...)
In other news... Michael got a new computer. I did too, but it is not ready yet. I should have it by Tuesday. The new computer Michael has is awesome, it is what I am writing with right now. My only problem with it is the keyboard... it is spaced out differently from every other keyboard I have ever touched and so I have been making typos in places where I usually would not, simply because I keep hitting the wrong keys (I have been proof-reading this post several times already). Apparently, my keyboard will have the strange odd layout... I am not looking forward to taking notes with the new keyboard for the first time! But my new computer will be awesome - as my old one is nearly dead, I am looking forward to having a perfectly functional laptop. I will miss my old one, however, it has been a trusty companion to me for five years now... *sigh*
And, as a concluding note to this post, check THIS out! My favourite cosplayer, Lillyxandra, is one of the major players in this project. It is amazing how these people bring fantasy to life. It makes me want to escape into the world they are in. *sigh* I wish I was this good at cosplaying... The costumes are stunning, and the photos even more so. There is so much dedication behind this project - it is just awe-inspiring. I am posting it here so you can all appreciate it. Make sure to look at the galleries! (Whether you know Zelda or not, this is just pure awesomeness!)
And that is it for today. My wrist hurts... It probably still hurts (along with my elbow) from Thursday's mid-term. I wrote 8 single-spaced pages of text in less than 70 minutes. I am good! I am very good! ^_^
Cheers!
Here is the facebook description of the event, to give you a better idea of it:
Into the Wild(e) celebrates the counterculture of 19th century England, from the high-fashion fancies of Jimmy Whistler, to the perverse passions of Lily Langtry, to the free-spirited sexuality of Wilde himself. Get dressed up in your best armor, corset or codpiece and dance / drink to the memory of the people who queered England!
In the spirit of Oscar himself, no colonial (or any other) oppression allowed!
Basically, it was a kick-ass dance party with lots of people in really cool costumes. Michael went as a respectable Victorian gentleman, my roommate went as a proper governess, and I myself went as a Victorian harlot. We looked awesome! The other costumes looked great too, but we truly rocked the house! We even came in with a backstory.
Here it is:
Mr. Beckett = Michael
Melinda Smythe = my roommate
Claire = Me
Claire was orphaned at a very young age and forced to live out her life in the misery of 19th century London. The hardships of life in the lower classes of London was difficult for her and, like many women who did not work in factories, Claire went for her only other option: prostitution.
However, on her sixteenth birthday, after being "on the market" for two years, Claire received the visit of a notary who held a large, fancy looking will. Claire was discovered to be the long lost daughter of a rich countess and the sole heiress to the fortune and title.
This is how, in her sixteenth year, Claire came to hire Melinda Smythe, a young and reputable governess, in order for her to be tought in the ways of high society and learn some proper manners and decorum. But old habits die hard and getting the streets of London out of the new aristocrat proove difficult for poor Melinda, who does try her hardest with the young harlot.
Luckily, during a party, a respectable gentleman, Mr. Beckett is introduced to Claire. He quickly becomes Claire's suitor and causes changes in Claire Melinda had never seen before. Will Mr. Beckett motivate Claire to become a true lady? Or is it all fleeting fancy and Melinda Smythe will have to give up on the girl? The dance party on Friday, October 15th will prove to be eye-opening...
lol
Okay - I will admit it... I had fun writing this crap just now. I know it is crap, so shush! It was fun. We went with these roles because of the ways we were dressed... I should have pictures up sometime soon.
The dance party was absolutely AWESOME! It was so great and we all had so much fun! Initially, I did not want to go at all, due to stormy weather and dreadfully strong winds (60 km/h). It had been a nightmare getting to school and back and the idea of braving the weather again did not appeal to me. But then we started on the costumes and then the fun started. It was so great, I do not regret walking around with exposed legs in high velocity winds at all! We finished off the evening nicely, after the party, eating fresh bagels with cream-cheese at 3 a.m. outside one of the most famous Montreal bagle places... It was GREAT! (I am sorry - other words fail me to describe the party... my mind is still a tad drowsy after going to bed so late...)
In other news... Michael got a new computer. I did too, but it is not ready yet. I should have it by Tuesday. The new computer Michael has is awesome, it is what I am writing with right now. My only problem with it is the keyboard... it is spaced out differently from every other keyboard I have ever touched and so I have been making typos in places where I usually would not, simply because I keep hitting the wrong keys (I have been proof-reading this post several times already). Apparently, my keyboard will have the strange odd layout... I am not looking forward to taking notes with the new keyboard for the first time! But my new computer will be awesome - as my old one is nearly dead, I am looking forward to having a perfectly functional laptop. I will miss my old one, however, it has been a trusty companion to me for five years now... *sigh*
And, as a concluding note to this post, check THIS out! My favourite cosplayer, Lillyxandra, is one of the major players in this project. It is amazing how these people bring fantasy to life. It makes me want to escape into the world they are in. *sigh* I wish I was this good at cosplaying... The costumes are stunning, and the photos even more so. There is so much dedication behind this project - it is just awe-inspiring. I am posting it here so you can all appreciate it. Make sure to look at the galleries! (Whether you know Zelda or not, this is just pure awesomeness!)
And that is it for today. My wrist hurts... It probably still hurts (along with my elbow) from Thursday's mid-term. I wrote 8 single-spaced pages of text in less than 70 minutes. I am good! I am very good! ^_^
Cheers!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
In which there are events almost more unfortunate than Lemony Snicket's series of said events
Hello world. No I am not dead, sorry to disappoint in that regard. I have just caught a really, really bad cold. I sound like a 90-year-old woman who went to the grave and returned... or like a bullfrog... you decide (I think the first choice was the most poetic though). Anyways, this was (I swear it) my last extended absence from blogging. It was more extended than I expected, due to a series of events that just ate up my time and made my life suck for a while.
...
So... events (sorry, my blocked sinuses mess with my brain and chronology just failed me)...
Well, I guess the first key event that happened last week was the end of my Summer Temporary period with Air Canada. It was a bitter-sweet parting, really. Despite all my complaining on the blog (yeah, I know I do that a lot... sorry!), I really did like my job. I did not like passengers from France, but, aside from that, it was a great job. In all honesty, it was my very first job that I did not HATE. I loved the variety in my day of work. It never really got dull. It was very hard and very physical work (not for sissies, that's for sure!), but it was enjoyable and easy to do with a smile. There is always something interesting going on at the airport. So, except for the few passengers that were real... uhm... arses (and I'm being polite)... it was great! I will especially miss my colleagues who made my job fun. I thoroughly enjoyed gossiping about this and that passenger or XYZ movie star that passed through the airport during a shift. So yeah - now that Air Canada is over, I can relax and I am a lot less stressed. No more weird schedules or double shifts (sadly, also means no more money...) and passengers pressuring you to get things done eight hours before their departure. However, it also means that there will be days when I will not know what to do with myself and miss the hustle and bustle ambiance created by the airport. And the laughter with the colleagues. I will totally miss that. Luckily, I have a great boyfriend and roommate to keep me cheered up. And, hopefully, I will be hired again for the Winter season with Air Canada. That would be really nice.
Now, before I move on to the next event, I must finish with a few Air Canada anecdotes, as I had promised many more than I was actually able to write out. In my last few weeks of work, I met a) the worst passenger to ever cross the airport; and b) some really cool individuals. Here are the stories.
A) A passenger was traveling back to Paris with Air Canada to the Charles-de-Gaulle airport (who wants to go THERE?! Seriously!). This is not particularly unusual... it just means that you have to deal with a lot of France French (blergh!). But this French guy was the worst I have ever encountered. It is CLEARLY posted, all over the Internet (on aircanada.com in the info and services section, under "Baggage"), that Air Canada only accept 1 BAG PER PASSENGER on flights to the US and Europe. It is even placed in a beautiful, easy-to-read, coloured chart. So when the passenger with 2 bags to Europe starts lamenting to my colleague that "it says NOWHERE on the website that I am only allowed 1 bag! It says you are allowed 2!" and my colleague insists that, no, our website clearly states that the second bag to Europe is for a fee... the conversation is already going downhill. The passenger stomped away angrily to look at one of the seven thousand signs all over the airport giving you a nice chart (like the one online) with exact detail of how many bags one is allowed to check in. The sign says something like this:
Baggage Allowance
Flights Within Canada: 1st Bag = Free 2nd Bag = Free 3rd Bag = 100$CAN
Flights to the USA: 1st Bag = Free 2nd Bag = 30$CAN 3rd Bag= 225$CAN
Flights to International Destinations (except Europe and USA): 1st Bag = Free 2nd Bag = Free 3rd Bag = 225$CAN
Flights to Europe: 1st Bag = Free 2nd Bag = 50$CAN 3rd Bag = 225$CAN
This is almost exactly the signs we have planted everywhere in the airport... And so the passenger read this sign and stormed back to my colleague. "You are a LIAR!" he yelled. "The sign RIGHT THERE says I am allowed 2 bags for FREE and the 3rd one is 100$!!"
At this point, I had to get involved, as I know that sign like the back of my hand. "Sir, the 3rd bag for 100$ is only for flights within Canada. If you look again, just a little lower on the chart, you will see that, to Europe, the second bag is 50$ and the third is 225$."
"ARE YOU SAYING I CAN'T READ?!"
Seriously? No. But I was sure thinking it!
Anyways, he ended up storming off, saying he would never travel with AC again and saying that if there are no passengers, we have no jobs. He said he sincerely wished homelessness upon us. Luckily, that jerk is not our only passenger. We hoped he would not make his flight. Sadly, he did.
B) Now for the awesome ones...
The first one was pretty cool. It was not something particularly impressive, but interesting nonetheless. He was flying to Shanghai with only a small backpack and a briefcase. Nothing more. Curious, I asked: "You must be one of the very few who travels such a long way and brings so little!" He smiled and said he was only staying in Shanghai for four days, continuing on to Tokyo for four more and then going to Hong Kong for three days before coming home. I said that was an unusual trip and enquired on what the purpose of his trip was (it is always good to make conversation with passengers). He said he was one of the directors for Cirque du Soleil in Japan. He was going to China to do some recruiting, going to work a little on a show in Tokyo and then going to do some more recruiting before coming home for a tad of family vacation. I was awed. I did not think I would meet a director of Cirque du Soleil someday! It was cool.
The second one was really funny. It was a pirate. I mean it. The guy wore full pirate garb! From head to toe, he was basically donning Captain Barbossa's outfit (with a few minor differences). My colleagues were all awed by his face. It was browned and wrinkly by too much sun (what a sun-tanned old pirate should look like) with a long, straggly and braided black beard and a shock of long greasy hair under a jaunty hat. It freaked out my colleagues that "he really LOOKS like a pirate!" I thought it was awesome. Especially because the guy was missing a leg! He only had about ten inches of thigh and then nothing. He was leaning on a wooden crutch. I think it is clever of him to have made the best out of the situation (the situation being losing your leg) by making himself into a pirate! I actually remarked to him that he was one week early for Talk Like a Pirate Day, to which he giggled. My colleagues were awed that I actually talked to him. The funniest part though, is that he never checked in. He stood in line until he got to the check in counter and then left. I do not know what he was up to, but he cause quite a stir! lol
The third encounter made me squee. I met the pilot of the Gimli Glider by pure accident! ^_^ I actually checked the guy in! For those who do not know, Captain Pearson, who was the pilot of the Gimli Glider, is a hero of modern aviation. Air Canada flight 143 left dear old Montreal airport on July 23rd, 1983 to head to Edmonton. About halfway through the flight, an alarm sounded, alerting the pilots that the engines had run out of fuel. This is any pilot's worst nightmare, I think. Despite the end seeming near, Captain Pearson and his co-pilot safely landed the aircraft in Gimli, Manitoba (which used to be an Air Force base) without anyone dying or being grievously injured. They accomplished this feat by using glider techniques. To understand how impressive their maneuver was, I strongly suggest you look up the episode on Discovery Channel's Mayday. It is AWESOME what they did! And so you can imagine my squee when I checked in this aviation hero! When I asked for his ID, he held out his retired Air Canada employee card. Out of curiosity, I enquired what he used to do at Air Canada. He said he used to be a pilot but I was probably to young to have heard of him. I told him to try me. When he mentioned the Gimli Glider (which is the nickname flight 143 was given after the events), I realized I had Captain Pearson in front of me!! It was so cool! ^_^
So those were my awesome encounters. One of my colleagues saw Robert Pattinson on the American side of the Airport. It is confirmed: the guy is ugly as all hell and apparently, also the biggest jerk the planet has ever encounter. He is a worse divo than many others that have come through the airport. I am very happy I did NOT have to encounter that Twilight twat of an actor!... Pity my colleagues who did meet him though.
Brutal change of subject...
The other events that prevented me from blogging were all related to the McGill administration. THEY SUCK! I am seriously starting to think that they do not want their undergrads to graduate. It was so complicated to get everything done! It turns out that grades and transcripts are not enough to graduate at McGill. No. You need audit sheets to be signed by a prof to prove and confirm that you will have completed your programme by the date you put down on your audit sheet. And this sheet needs to be handed in before a certain date or you cannot graduate. I thankfully found out just in the nick of time or I would have been stuck, unable to graduate. But I am seriously starting to miss High School, where they looked at your transcripts, saw your grades and went: "Oh, great! You pass! Here is your diploma!". Apparently, your transcripts are not worth anything at McGill because they do not confirm that you have completed your programme. What sort of sick bureaucracy is this?!
And, to top it all off, it was really, really difficult to make my schedule this semester. All the classes were at the SAME BLOODY TIME! Every class I had to take turned out to be at 2:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. How the Hell was I supposed to balance this out?! After much discussion with advisors, I was able to sort it out, but man did it take time and running around for absolutely no good reason! grrrr! Stupid McGill administration!!!
And, finally, I had my audition for the McGill Savoy Society this year. I was, for the first time, really going for a role (that of Mad Margaret for Ruddigore). I kind of blew it. Mostly by becoming really, really, REALLY sick the night before and thus ending up with a near complete voice extinction on the very day of my audition. Try singing "I Can Hear the Bells" from Hairspray when your throat feels like it will suffer imminent Diphteria and your sinuses threaten to make your skull explode! It is agony! It sucks, it hurts and you sound terrible (even more so than usual). Add nerves to that and you end up with poor acting and tears by the end of your audition. I hope I can still get the role, but my hopes are currently low...
Furthermore, this morning, I woke up and my mouth hurt from the pressure in my sinuses. Conclusion, I am really, really bloody sick. I blame Michael. He's been having a man-cold for a while and I think he gave it to me. But it seems to have hit me tenfold because everyone around me is sick too and there have been some extreme and sudden weather changes of late... *sniffle* I hate being sick!
I probably had much more to say but this post already seems torturously long, so I will stop myself here. Wish me luck with getting my health back, I will need it so I can impress people at callbacks for Savoy (which are on Saturday). Hopefully I will rock those and I will get the role.
And that, everyone, was my series of unfortunate events that lead to an abscence of blog posts. I will now go make myself more tea... *sniffle*
P.S. Despite the oncoming illness, Talk Like A Pirate Day rocked! I was not a historical pirate, but still a drop-dead sexy pirate wench, if I do say so myself! ^_^ Too bad I do not have any pictures... And I bought some AWESOME spiced mead for said Pirate Day. It comes in a stone bottle with a wax seal! How cool is that?! And it was yummy too!
...
........ Okay, tea now!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
In which the Otakuthon took place
Please feel free to (finally) have a look at my cosplay. Here is the completed result. The photos are scanned, though, so forgive the poor quality of them. The second photo was taken from above, so the angle is a little odd... But I am glad at how it turned out!
Anyways, on with the post...
For one glorious weekend, I was back among the living. No work. No stress. Just some great fun with even greater friends.
I attended the Otakuthon, a Quebec anime convention that takes place in Montreal. Considering how insignificant the convention was a few years back, it has much improved, featuring stars of anime like the Full Metal Alchemist voice actors and the master cosplayers Sarcasm Hime and Lillyxandra.
My cosplay turned out AMAZING! For those who do not yet know, I was cosplaying the Archangel Gabriel (aka Jibril) from the manga Angel Sanctuary. The specific costume I made was actually from the second Artbook by Kaori Yuki (the mangaka mastermind behind Angel Sanctuary), called Lost Angel. Despite all my complaining and my near depression with the difficult progress of the costume, I am really happy at how it turned out! I only finished it at 4 a.m. on the Saturday, just before the convention. With bags under my eyes, but a smile, I went to the convention with a happy strut.
Quick details about my costume. It was hard to make. First of all, because my job is eating up so much of my time and I do not feel like doing anything when I get home. But it was also difficult because I had one single picture as a reference and no proper pattern to work with. I did buy a commercial pattern, because the waist of the dress seemed to suit my cosplay, but, upon further observation, I noticed that the dress pattern was entirely wrong for my purposes. I had to ditch the skirt of it and use a skirt pattern from something completely different and I also had to change some seams around to have the zipper on the side instead of in the back, not to mention all the tweaking and shortening that was done to the waist bit. Then came the really hard part. Improv. I had no pattern for either sleeve, so I just measured my arms, cut some fabric, and improvised. I sewed my left sleeve a grand total of four times before succeeding. The hood and the neck corset nearly gave me an ulcer from all the work it took. I basically did my own pattern drafting for these pieces... except without a drafted pattern. I should buy pattern paper, because improvising on your fabric can be stressful when you only have limited amounts of it. I then used a pattern for the bum-roll and completely improvised the tulle petticoat.
There are a few things I want to change about my design, but I believe I can make all those changes for Anime North and maybe absolutely rock the house there. I am even considering entering the masquerade (the costume contest of the convention) at Anime North if I manage to bring this costume up to scratch (amongst other things, I should really think of adding the wings). One thing I know for sure is that I am never using such ichy fabric again!! The main part of the dress was fine, that was not the ichy part. It was the neck corset and my left sleeve... they were made of a sheer, tulle-like fabric that iched like chicken-pox! It was driving me NUTS during the whole convention!!
I also have to give great credit to my roommate, Vanessa, who handcrafted my head jewel and the jewel on the neckpiece. She also did my make-up, as my make-up talents are very limited and the flowers on the original drawing were very intricate.
It made me deliriously happy to see my friends at the convention. We went to loads of events and had a lot of fun. I even made new friends, which was great!! And many, MANY people took pictures of me wherever I went. This has never happened to me before, but I really enjoyed it! I think about 100 random people must have asked for my picture! AWESOME! Not too bad for a first convention cosplay, eh?
My main joy to the Otakuthon, though, was a major fangirl moment, when I met Lillyxandra face-to-face. I had been following that amazing woman's website for ages, ever since I discovered her on cosplay.com (which must have been about two years ago, now). She is one of my very favourite cosplayers! She does many original designs and absolutely gorgeous fairy costumes! Her work is jaw-dropping and stunning! I got a hug from her, which made me very happy! I am also the proud owner of her autograph. The best part, though, was when Lillyxandra actually complimented me about my costume. She loved the paint-job I did on the bra and the way I had made the costume. She thought it was well made and said that she loved that outfit from the artbook and had considered making it for herself too. It made me very happy and I had a major squee moment. Then we talked for a long time. She was there on both the Saturday and the Sunday, dressed as Queen Serenity on the Saturday, and as her own Fairy Design on the Sunday. I hope to be as gifted as she is with costumes someday!
I also met Sarcasm Hime!! (She is another of my favourite cosplayer, by the way.) However, she had to run, as she was on the judging pannel for the masquerade. But she suggested I contact her by email! She was so nice!
The one really disappointing thing about the convention happened at the very end of it. A disappointing moment aside from the moment of shock when a picture of Michael's ex stared up at me from the photography booth....
Anyways, I decided, after a long debate with myself, to purchase the complete first season DVD box set of Full Metal Alchemist. It is my absolute favourite series, it was at a reasonable price and I had wanted it forever, so it was money well spent, I think. And besides, it was my only purchase during the entire convention (except for a 10$ photoshoot).
Unfortunately for me, I put it in the only bag I had brought to the convention with me. When the time came to leave, I rummaged through the bag in order to find my metro pass. In order to make the search easier, I took out the DVDs. However, I have several friends as witnesses who SWEAR they saw me put the box set back into my bag. So how did it manage to disappear after that? Did I lose it? Was it stolen? I have already shed some tears over the lost DVDs and I am super angry at myself, because I usually never forget this kind of stuff. It is really frustrating for me, because I was really happy about it and looking forward to it until it vanished. And I have no idea what happened either! No recollection of anything. It did not turn up in the lost and found and I searched the premises of the convention myself for it. Zilch. It really ruined what would otherwise have been a great evening. I am really disappointed, both in myself and in the situation. And to put a damper on things (no pun intended), it started pouring rain when I came home, so I got drenched... in costume!
Anyways, I think that is enough updates for today. I will update again soon. I am sorry my writing is not of its usual quality, but I am super tired. I will now turn in for a good night's sleep. Please pray with me, though, that some honest soul has found and will return my DVDs...
P.S. But the Otakuthon was still absolutely awesome! So many pretty cosplays! Wish I had had a camera (which, unfortunately, I did not! *pout*)
Anyways, on with the post...
For one glorious weekend, I was back among the living. No work. No stress. Just some great fun with even greater friends.
I attended the Otakuthon, a Quebec anime convention that takes place in Montreal. Considering how insignificant the convention was a few years back, it has much improved, featuring stars of anime like the Full Metal Alchemist voice actors and the master cosplayers Sarcasm Hime and Lillyxandra.
My cosplay turned out AMAZING! For those who do not yet know, I was cosplaying the Archangel Gabriel (aka Jibril) from the manga Angel Sanctuary. The specific costume I made was actually from the second Artbook by Kaori Yuki (the mangaka mastermind behind Angel Sanctuary), called Lost Angel. Despite all my complaining and my near depression with the difficult progress of the costume, I am really happy at how it turned out! I only finished it at 4 a.m. on the Saturday, just before the convention. With bags under my eyes, but a smile, I went to the convention with a happy strut.
Quick details about my costume. It was hard to make. First of all, because my job is eating up so much of my time and I do not feel like doing anything when I get home. But it was also difficult because I had one single picture as a reference and no proper pattern to work with. I did buy a commercial pattern, because the waist of the dress seemed to suit my cosplay, but, upon further observation, I noticed that the dress pattern was entirely wrong for my purposes. I had to ditch the skirt of it and use a skirt pattern from something completely different and I also had to change some seams around to have the zipper on the side instead of in the back, not to mention all the tweaking and shortening that was done to the waist bit. Then came the really hard part. Improv. I had no pattern for either sleeve, so I just measured my arms, cut some fabric, and improvised. I sewed my left sleeve a grand total of four times before succeeding. The hood and the neck corset nearly gave me an ulcer from all the work it took. I basically did my own pattern drafting for these pieces... except without a drafted pattern. I should buy pattern paper, because improvising on your fabric can be stressful when you only have limited amounts of it. I then used a pattern for the bum-roll and completely improvised the tulle petticoat.
There are a few things I want to change about my design, but I believe I can make all those changes for Anime North and maybe absolutely rock the house there. I am even considering entering the masquerade (the costume contest of the convention) at Anime North if I manage to bring this costume up to scratch (amongst other things, I should really think of adding the wings). One thing I know for sure is that I am never using such ichy fabric again!! The main part of the dress was fine, that was not the ichy part. It was the neck corset and my left sleeve... they were made of a sheer, tulle-like fabric that iched like chicken-pox! It was driving me NUTS during the whole convention!!
I also have to give great credit to my roommate, Vanessa, who handcrafted my head jewel and the jewel on the neckpiece. She also did my make-up, as my make-up talents are very limited and the flowers on the original drawing were very intricate.
It made me deliriously happy to see my friends at the convention. We went to loads of events and had a lot of fun. I even made new friends, which was great!! And many, MANY people took pictures of me wherever I went. This has never happened to me before, but I really enjoyed it! I think about 100 random people must have asked for my picture! AWESOME! Not too bad for a first convention cosplay, eh?
My main joy to the Otakuthon, though, was a major fangirl moment, when I met Lillyxandra face-to-face. I had been following that amazing woman's website for ages, ever since I discovered her on cosplay.com (which must have been about two years ago, now). She is one of my very favourite cosplayers! She does many original designs and absolutely gorgeous fairy costumes! Her work is jaw-dropping and stunning! I got a hug from her, which made me very happy! I am also the proud owner of her autograph. The best part, though, was when Lillyxandra actually complimented me about my costume. She loved the paint-job I did on the bra and the way I had made the costume. She thought it was well made and said that she loved that outfit from the artbook and had considered making it for herself too. It made me very happy and I had a major squee moment. Then we talked for a long time. She was there on both the Saturday and the Sunday, dressed as Queen Serenity on the Saturday, and as her own Fairy Design on the Sunday. I hope to be as gifted as she is with costumes someday!
I also met Sarcasm Hime!! (She is another of my favourite cosplayer, by the way.) However, she had to run, as she was on the judging pannel for the masquerade. But she suggested I contact her by email! She was so nice!
The one really disappointing thing about the convention happened at the very end of it. A disappointing moment aside from the moment of shock when a picture of Michael's ex stared up at me from the photography booth....
Anyways, I decided, after a long debate with myself, to purchase the complete first season DVD box set of Full Metal Alchemist. It is my absolute favourite series, it was at a reasonable price and I had wanted it forever, so it was money well spent, I think. And besides, it was my only purchase during the entire convention (except for a 10$ photoshoot).
Unfortunately for me, I put it in the only bag I had brought to the convention with me. When the time came to leave, I rummaged through the bag in order to find my metro pass. In order to make the search easier, I took out the DVDs. However, I have several friends as witnesses who SWEAR they saw me put the box set back into my bag. So how did it manage to disappear after that? Did I lose it? Was it stolen? I have already shed some tears over the lost DVDs and I am super angry at myself, because I usually never forget this kind of stuff. It is really frustrating for me, because I was really happy about it and looking forward to it until it vanished. And I have no idea what happened either! No recollection of anything. It did not turn up in the lost and found and I searched the premises of the convention myself for it. Zilch. It really ruined what would otherwise have been a great evening. I am really disappointed, both in myself and in the situation. And to put a damper on things (no pun intended), it started pouring rain when I came home, so I got drenched... in costume!
Anyways, I think that is enough updates for today. I will update again soon. I am sorry my writing is not of its usual quality, but I am super tired. I will now turn in for a good night's sleep. Please pray with me, though, that some honest soul has found and will return my DVDs...
P.S. But the Otakuthon was still absolutely awesome! So many pretty cosplays! Wish I had had a camera (which, unfortunately, I did not! *pout*)
Saturday, June 12, 2010
In which Les Miserables is reviewed...
Before I start my review, I must explain why, in all my excitement and joy about having seen this wonderful show last night, I did not blog about it immediately. It is because, when I came home after Les Miserables, I was really exhausted. Why? Because the upstairs neighbours felt it was necessary to try and rechoreography the musical STOMP. I am not kidding: it sounded like they had hired a marching band to walk back and forth over our heads at TWO in the freakin' morning!! Needless to say I barely slept. Michael believes they were having a fight up there. I do not care: I was so tired after Les Miserables due to this, that I was forced to stay away from my beloved blog! *sad face*
And now, on to the review.
Les Miserables, originally a book by Victor Hugo, was adapted into a musical (in 1980) composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg with Alain Boublil, and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
Les Miserables
IT. WAS. AWESOME!
* warning, spoilers ahead for those who do not know the story of Les Miserables... and it is a shame if you do not know it... so google it NOW!!*
Presented for the Festival des Francofolies de Montreal (in other words, the Festival of French Language of Montreal), Les Miserables has come to Place-des-Arts from June 8th to June 19th. The fabulous production is, for the most part, the same cast as the cast that presented the show in Quebec City, for the 400th anniversary of the city.
This means that many talented singers were on stage, notably Gino Quilico, famous Canadian Baritone. He starred in the role of Jean Val-Jean and sang beautifully. That man has a fabulous stage presence.
Other performers were not quite as well known, as this is a very Quebecan (I do not know if that is the proper word...) cast. However, all singers were very gifted and talented. Notably, the young boy (Emilien Neron) featured in the role of Gavroche was very impressive (and super cute! he had the knobbliest knees!): he is presently attending Felix Leclerc school, but is very gifted in theater as well as music.
As I had already seen this production of Les Miserables once before (when it was featured in Quebec City), I wish to first mention the differences that I spotted between the newer production and the old one. In all truth, as good as the first one was, I believe I preferred this newer version. They have emphasized the drama fabulously with a few minor changes to the staging.
What were the changes? The major changes could be found in the many death scenes of the show. Yes, for those who like musical theater because it is mostly happy, you are mistaken if you do not think Les Miserables is a total tragedy. In fact, I believe it to be the saddest musical in the history of mankind (only very few characters survive).
So the death scenes were changed and made (although it seemed impossible) even more dramatic than when I saw it in Quebec. Eponine had refined her death scene to make it frighteningly realistic... she collapsed much earlier and maintained a steady tremble of agony through her last song (I cried... A LOT!). The young actor in the role of Gavroche flabbergasted me in his death scene, being just as realistic as Eponine and absolutely heart-wrenching in his performance.
But the really dramatic deaths were the students at the barricade and Javert's suicide. The students all got shot, but, instead of immediately falling to the stage floor, as they did in Quebec city, all the shot men came and stood, injured, in a line at the front of the stage. When their leader, the student Enjolras, waved the flag at the soldiers and got shot in turn, then they all fell at once and the light faded to red and then to black... that had quite a grim effect, but the dramatic impact was AMAZING!!!
As for Javert's suicide, the backdrop of Paris had one of the many bridges crossing the Seine. As Javert advanced on stage, singing his suicide song, another Javert appeared at the top of the bridge. They moved together like two shadows until the end of the song, at which point the Javert at the front of the stage disappeared in the wings and there was a moment of silence. During that silence, the Javert on the bridge turned his back to the audience and jumped. It was amazing and had a great effect on the audience, who were not too sure whether they should clap at this point or just be shocked.
As always, the music was beautiful. The stage was fabulously set and the choreographies were amazing (notably "Master of the House" with the Thenardiers had a fabulous choreography and great acting). The costumes were amazing and the performers great. The only unfortunate thing was the use of microphones. It is understandable, as the crowd was huge, and the orchestra small... but the person managing the sound sometimes forgot to turn on the mics, which took away from the show a little.
But otherwise it was a stunning feast for the eyes and, especially, the ears. It was also a total tear-jerker and a beautifully heart-wrenching production. I believe it had a very cathartic effect on me, and I always enjoy when a show does that.
Unfortunately, the whole musical was in French, which sucked for Michael, as his understanding of French is fairly minimal as of yet. However, even he shed a tear for Eponine and Gavroche, so the music and the visual were THAT good. Even he was moved. It was awesome... but sad.
*sigh* Now I REALLY want to sing Eponine on stage someday. Michael believes I would honestly be a fabulous Eponine. I wonder if he is just saying that because we are dating... or if he really believes I have it in me to die one of the most tragic stage deaths known to musicals... (oh, and I LOVE her songs!!!)
Anyways... Les Miserables made me SUPER DUPER HAPPY (after many tears, obviously). I had a wonderful evening last night, first going to a super fancy restaurant at Place-des-Arts, which has beautiful Opera costumes standing on display outside it. It is called the Seingalt, after Casanova, who was the Lord of Seingalt... Anyways, the food was AMAZING and the restaurant wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed dinner with Michael and my mum and it was really fun. I could do this every night!
In other news... I have a pretty french manicure. Yes, you all had to know that! XD
And now, on to the review.
Les Miserables, originally a book by Victor Hugo, was adapted into a musical (in 1980) composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg with Alain Boublil, and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
Les Miserables
IT. WAS. AWESOME!
* warning, spoilers ahead for those who do not know the story of Les Miserables... and it is a shame if you do not know it... so google it NOW!!*
Presented for the Festival des Francofolies de Montreal (in other words, the Festival of French Language of Montreal), Les Miserables has come to Place-des-Arts from June 8th to June 19th. The fabulous production is, for the most part, the same cast as the cast that presented the show in Quebec City, for the 400th anniversary of the city.
This means that many talented singers were on stage, notably Gino Quilico, famous Canadian Baritone. He starred in the role of Jean Val-Jean and sang beautifully. That man has a fabulous stage presence.
Other performers were not quite as well known, as this is a very Quebecan (I do not know if that is the proper word...) cast. However, all singers were very gifted and talented. Notably, the young boy (Emilien Neron) featured in the role of Gavroche was very impressive (and super cute! he had the knobbliest knees!): he is presently attending Felix Leclerc school, but is very gifted in theater as well as music.
As I had already seen this production of Les Miserables once before (when it was featured in Quebec City), I wish to first mention the differences that I spotted between the newer production and the old one. In all truth, as good as the first one was, I believe I preferred this newer version. They have emphasized the drama fabulously with a few minor changes to the staging.
What were the changes? The major changes could be found in the many death scenes of the show. Yes, for those who like musical theater because it is mostly happy, you are mistaken if you do not think Les Miserables is a total tragedy. In fact, I believe it to be the saddest musical in the history of mankind (only very few characters survive).
So the death scenes were changed and made (although it seemed impossible) even more dramatic than when I saw it in Quebec. Eponine had refined her death scene to make it frighteningly realistic... she collapsed much earlier and maintained a steady tremble of agony through her last song (I cried... A LOT!). The young actor in the role of Gavroche flabbergasted me in his death scene, being just as realistic as Eponine and absolutely heart-wrenching in his performance.
But the really dramatic deaths were the students at the barricade and Javert's suicide. The students all got shot, but, instead of immediately falling to the stage floor, as they did in Quebec city, all the shot men came and stood, injured, in a line at the front of the stage. When their leader, the student Enjolras, waved the flag at the soldiers and got shot in turn, then they all fell at once and the light faded to red and then to black... that had quite a grim effect, but the dramatic impact was AMAZING!!!
As for Javert's suicide, the backdrop of Paris had one of the many bridges crossing the Seine. As Javert advanced on stage, singing his suicide song, another Javert appeared at the top of the bridge. They moved together like two shadows until the end of the song, at which point the Javert at the front of the stage disappeared in the wings and there was a moment of silence. During that silence, the Javert on the bridge turned his back to the audience and jumped. It was amazing and had a great effect on the audience, who were not too sure whether they should clap at this point or just be shocked.
As always, the music was beautiful. The stage was fabulously set and the choreographies were amazing (notably "Master of the House" with the Thenardiers had a fabulous choreography and great acting). The costumes were amazing and the performers great. The only unfortunate thing was the use of microphones. It is understandable, as the crowd was huge, and the orchestra small... but the person managing the sound sometimes forgot to turn on the mics, which took away from the show a little.
But otherwise it was a stunning feast for the eyes and, especially, the ears. It was also a total tear-jerker and a beautifully heart-wrenching production. I believe it had a very cathartic effect on me, and I always enjoy when a show does that.
Unfortunately, the whole musical was in French, which sucked for Michael, as his understanding of French is fairly minimal as of yet. However, even he shed a tear for Eponine and Gavroche, so the music and the visual were THAT good. Even he was moved. It was awesome... but sad.
*sigh* Now I REALLY want to sing Eponine on stage someday. Michael believes I would honestly be a fabulous Eponine. I wonder if he is just saying that because we are dating... or if he really believes I have it in me to die one of the most tragic stage deaths known to musicals... (oh, and I LOVE her songs!!!)
Anyways... Les Miserables made me SUPER DUPER HAPPY (after many tears, obviously). I had a wonderful evening last night, first going to a super fancy restaurant at Place-des-Arts, which has beautiful Opera costumes standing on display outside it. It is called the Seingalt, after Casanova, who was the Lord of Seingalt... Anyways, the food was AMAZING and the restaurant wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed dinner with Michael and my mum and it was really fun. I could do this every night!
In other news... I have a pretty french manicure. Yes, you all had to know that! XD
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Germany Chronicles 4 (Final Chapter) - In which a visit was paid to Wiesbaden
Sorry for the fact that this post did not come as soon as I had hoped (or expected it to). The reason is quite simple: after my last post, I did not get any more access to the Internet. My aunt Uli (short for Ulrike) did not have any Internet at home and I did not have time to go before leaving Bavaria... Yet, there is lots (lots and lots) to say. So be prepared for a very long post.
Before anything, you must know that I am back in Canada. *sigh* Yes, back already. It makes me a little sad to have left the peace, beauty and serenity of Germany (for once I actually felt stress-free!), but it is also good to be returning to sunshine (though it is a little too hot here in Montreal). I did miss the sun: of the 20 days we spent in Germany overall, only ONE day was sunny. ONE! It was not fair! I had wanted to show Michael so many things, but the stupid rain (literally) drowned my marvelous plans. But we had loads of fun anyway...
I need to get down to my adventures in Germany now, or you'll find yourself facing the never-ending post (as opposed to the story of the same type).
Since the last post, the rain only got worse in Germany and there was no hope at all of ever seeing our trip turn sunny. Though, fun fact, during the only day of sun, Michael actually caught a sunburn (tee hee!... no, that was not funny!). Anyhow, on the Thursday, it was Ascension. So we went to the Catholic Church (of beautiful baroque fashioning) and sat through an hour of service. The service was sung (gregorian-style, by the priest!) and they had a wonderful choir and an ORCHESTRA (on top of the organ) that played Mozart for the festivities of Ascension. Also, the hunters (Schuetzen) of the town came in full traditional garb to the Church in order to get a blessing for the start of the hunting season. It was interesting and wonderful... Though cold... Churches are not heated and they can be a little draughty... But it was great anyway... I believe that the service we saw is not that different from the services they had back when the Church was originally built. Oh, and allow me to mention that the people of Oberammergau are excessively Christian. Some go to church every day. I kid you not: there are two services a day, so if you feel REALLY pious, you can go TWICE! It boggled my mind: you do not ever see that here in Canada...
On the Friday, we went to see the Passion Play. This is very interesting: not only is pretty much all of Oberammergau involved in this event, but also it attracts thousands of tourists a day, mostly because they are doing a sort of pilgrimage to the small-town in order to view this religious event. There is a whole history behind the play: in 1633, the Black Plague hit the town of Oberammergau really hard. So, the people of town got together and wrote (and signed) an oath to God that, if the Plague would go and if there were no more victims of the illness, they would present a Passion Play in thanks every decade. When 1634 came about, there had been no more victims at all, and thus the first Passion Play tradition was presented and a whole tradition began. Michael and I went to the Oberammergau museum and had a look of the chronology of the events. They even still have the signed oath to God that they would present it. It was decided, though, that the play would be presented at the beginning of every decade, which is why in 2010 we were graced with a wonderful presentation. It was fabulous (though cold: I pitied the guy playing Jesus who had to hang on the cross half-naked for 20 minutes!). It was a great presentation and, to my delight, Michael loved it!
On Saturday, we went to visit castle Neuschwanstein, the famous castle built by Ludwig II of Bavaria that inspired the Disney aberration... Much better than Disney World any day, because this castle is the real deal! I could have strangled the stupid American tourist who stood beside me while looking up at the castle. He said: "It looks really fake, like it was built by Disney!" My head shot round at this and I had to tell him that Disney was inspired by this breathtaking castle for his own trademark castle. The guy replied: "It looks plasticky anyway," a comment which made me seethe because it is OBVIOUSLY stone! Michael sort of dragged me away before I killed anyone. It was super beautiful, awe-inspiring and amazing... as always... But, also, as always, it is crowded - no, flooded - by moronic tourists, which kind of ruins the beauty of it for you. The rain also put a bit of a damper on things. Anyways... my favourite part of the castle is the courtyard at the front. It has a fabulous design and Saint-George the Dragon Killer is painted on the main wall. It is absolutely wonderful - my kind of fairytale castle. Disney is worth nothing against it. ... Bloody tourist!
Michael and I spent the Sunday traveling up to Wiesbaden. Now, Wiesbaden is a city much farther to the north than Bavaria, not so far away from Frankfurt. We went there because that is where my aunt lives (in the most gorgeous apartment I have EVER seen! It would make even the gods jealous! I kid you not!). We got up at 5 a.m. (German time) to take a train (and switch trains a couple of time) and we basically were on a five and a half hour train trip to the north. It was a fun trip, though our compartment was PACKED with Chinese people. I do not know for sure, but I think they were a whole family or something traveling together, because they all seemed to know each other. My issue with them was that they were being very loud and eating smelly foods (the lady behind me was feasting on a box of hard-boiled eggs! eeek!)
Wiesbaden was beautiful! It is a gorgeous city with a Roman wall that dates back to the 4th Century A.D. It was impressive! So many vestiges left by the Romans! Also, Wiesbaden is on top of a great number of hot springs, so you can smell the sulfur in the hot water. They have fabulous healing baths there. The hot springs are naturally 66 degrees (Celsius)... which is really, REALLY hot if you put your hand beneath it. We also went on to the Neroberg (a pretty mountain with a vineyard and a Russian Orthodox Church (also a tomb)). There was an amphitheater up there and Michael took the occasion to serenade me in Italian from the bottom of the amphitheater... His voice rose up so beautifully, he even got applause from the people around. Michael also found himself a new girlfriend: a blood-hound named Berta. She was super cute, but I was getting jealous of all the attention Michael was giving her. We also went along the Rhine a little, Michael enjoyed skipping stones there and I enjoyed the solitary swan swimming on the river. We finished off our evening around a bottle of wine at an Italian restaurant with my aunt, my dad, and my uncle. It was very enjoyable. I ended up with a flush to my cheeks caused by the wine and stories were told around the table that I hope will only come up again when I get married. I will say no more about these.
Also, I have determined I would live in Wiesbaden later... Not only is is a drop-dead gorgeous city, but I gave me the biggest squee of all. They had a store there, called the Korsetterie!!! *Insert biggest fangirlish squee you can imagine here* I could not buy any corsets because they were too expensive, but they were also GORGEOUS. Some were designs by Bibian Blue, my favourite corset designer. I could live anywhere with such a store...
And that's how the trip concluded. Wonderful nights eating Italian... My dad and my uncle brought us back to Canada on Thursday the 20th. It was good to be back in the sun, but I could have stayed longer. Now I need to stress out about work and about moving and stuff... Not looking forward to the move at all actually - I do not feel like dismantling my Ikea wardrobe AGAIN!
Also, I went up North to my dad's cottage upon my return to Canada. My father promptly stepped on my glasses which have faithfully served me for five years. Catastrophe appalling! It was not a great start to my day, if I may put it that way. So now I'll be moving using crazy-glued glasses and I am going out to buy new ones next week... I hope they'll have nice ones.
I'm looking forward to the move being over. Now that I am back in Canada, you can expect more frequent posts. Also, I shall be posting pictures very VERY soon. I still have to sort through them though: I have about 2200 of them! I cannot wait to show them off!
And for now, my faithful readers, that is it. I hope this has put at least a glimpse of a smile on your lips. I am, alas, exhausted: the jet-lag has not been merciful to me. Blog you later!
P.S. Michael and I just finished Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones and it was AWESOME! You should read it; it's loads of fun!
Before anything, you must know that I am back in Canada. *sigh* Yes, back already. It makes me a little sad to have left the peace, beauty and serenity of Germany (for once I actually felt stress-free!), but it is also good to be returning to sunshine (though it is a little too hot here in Montreal). I did miss the sun: of the 20 days we spent in Germany overall, only ONE day was sunny. ONE! It was not fair! I had wanted to show Michael so many things, but the stupid rain (literally) drowned my marvelous plans. But we had loads of fun anyway...
I need to get down to my adventures in Germany now, or you'll find yourself facing the never-ending post (as opposed to the story of the same type).
Since the last post, the rain only got worse in Germany and there was no hope at all of ever seeing our trip turn sunny. Though, fun fact, during the only day of sun, Michael actually caught a sunburn (tee hee!... no, that was not funny!). Anyhow, on the Thursday, it was Ascension. So we went to the Catholic Church (of beautiful baroque fashioning) and sat through an hour of service. The service was sung (gregorian-style, by the priest!) and they had a wonderful choir and an ORCHESTRA (on top of the organ) that played Mozart for the festivities of Ascension. Also, the hunters (Schuetzen) of the town came in full traditional garb to the Church in order to get a blessing for the start of the hunting season. It was interesting and wonderful... Though cold... Churches are not heated and they can be a little draughty... But it was great anyway... I believe that the service we saw is not that different from the services they had back when the Church was originally built. Oh, and allow me to mention that the people of Oberammergau are excessively Christian. Some go to church every day. I kid you not: there are two services a day, so if you feel REALLY pious, you can go TWICE! It boggled my mind: you do not ever see that here in Canada...
On the Friday, we went to see the Passion Play. This is very interesting: not only is pretty much all of Oberammergau involved in this event, but also it attracts thousands of tourists a day, mostly because they are doing a sort of pilgrimage to the small-town in order to view this religious event. There is a whole history behind the play: in 1633, the Black Plague hit the town of Oberammergau really hard. So, the people of town got together and wrote (and signed) an oath to God that, if the Plague would go and if there were no more victims of the illness, they would present a Passion Play in thanks every decade. When 1634 came about, there had been no more victims at all, and thus the first Passion Play tradition was presented and a whole tradition began. Michael and I went to the Oberammergau museum and had a look of the chronology of the events. They even still have the signed oath to God that they would present it. It was decided, though, that the play would be presented at the beginning of every decade, which is why in 2010 we were graced with a wonderful presentation. It was fabulous (though cold: I pitied the guy playing Jesus who had to hang on the cross half-naked for 20 minutes!). It was a great presentation and, to my delight, Michael loved it!
On Saturday, we went to visit castle Neuschwanstein, the famous castle built by Ludwig II of Bavaria that inspired the Disney aberration... Much better than Disney World any day, because this castle is the real deal! I could have strangled the stupid American tourist who stood beside me while looking up at the castle. He said: "It looks really fake, like it was built by Disney!" My head shot round at this and I had to tell him that Disney was inspired by this breathtaking castle for his own trademark castle. The guy replied: "It looks plasticky anyway," a comment which made me seethe because it is OBVIOUSLY stone! Michael sort of dragged me away before I killed anyone. It was super beautiful, awe-inspiring and amazing... as always... But, also, as always, it is crowded - no, flooded - by moronic tourists, which kind of ruins the beauty of it for you. The rain also put a bit of a damper on things. Anyways... my favourite part of the castle is the courtyard at the front. It has a fabulous design and Saint-George the Dragon Killer is painted on the main wall. It is absolutely wonderful - my kind of fairytale castle. Disney is worth nothing against it. ... Bloody tourist!
Michael and I spent the Sunday traveling up to Wiesbaden. Now, Wiesbaden is a city much farther to the north than Bavaria, not so far away from Frankfurt. We went there because that is where my aunt lives (in the most gorgeous apartment I have EVER seen! It would make even the gods jealous! I kid you not!). We got up at 5 a.m. (German time) to take a train (and switch trains a couple of time) and we basically were on a five and a half hour train trip to the north. It was a fun trip, though our compartment was PACKED with Chinese people. I do not know for sure, but I think they were a whole family or something traveling together, because they all seemed to know each other. My issue with them was that they were being very loud and eating smelly foods (the lady behind me was feasting on a box of hard-boiled eggs! eeek!)
Wiesbaden was beautiful! It is a gorgeous city with a Roman wall that dates back to the 4th Century A.D. It was impressive! So many vestiges left by the Romans! Also, Wiesbaden is on top of a great number of hot springs, so you can smell the sulfur in the hot water. They have fabulous healing baths there. The hot springs are naturally 66 degrees (Celsius)... which is really, REALLY hot if you put your hand beneath it. We also went on to the Neroberg (a pretty mountain with a vineyard and a Russian Orthodox Church (also a tomb)). There was an amphitheater up there and Michael took the occasion to serenade me in Italian from the bottom of the amphitheater... His voice rose up so beautifully, he even got applause from the people around. Michael also found himself a new girlfriend: a blood-hound named Berta. She was super cute, but I was getting jealous of all the attention Michael was giving her. We also went along the Rhine a little, Michael enjoyed skipping stones there and I enjoyed the solitary swan swimming on the river. We finished off our evening around a bottle of wine at an Italian restaurant with my aunt, my dad, and my uncle. It was very enjoyable. I ended up with a flush to my cheeks caused by the wine and stories were told around the table that I hope will only come up again when I get married. I will say no more about these.
Also, I have determined I would live in Wiesbaden later... Not only is is a drop-dead gorgeous city, but I gave me the biggest squee of all. They had a store there, called the Korsetterie!!! *Insert biggest fangirlish squee you can imagine here* I could not buy any corsets because they were too expensive, but they were also GORGEOUS. Some were designs by Bibian Blue, my favourite corset designer. I could live anywhere with such a store...
And that's how the trip concluded. Wonderful nights eating Italian... My dad and my uncle brought us back to Canada on Thursday the 20th. It was good to be back in the sun, but I could have stayed longer. Now I need to stress out about work and about moving and stuff... Not looking forward to the move at all actually - I do not feel like dismantling my Ikea wardrobe AGAIN!
Also, I went up North to my dad's cottage upon my return to Canada. My father promptly stepped on my glasses which have faithfully served me for five years. Catastrophe appalling! It was not a great start to my day, if I may put it that way. So now I'll be moving using crazy-glued glasses and I am going out to buy new ones next week... I hope they'll have nice ones.
I'm looking forward to the move being over. Now that I am back in Canada, you can expect more frequent posts. Also, I shall be posting pictures very VERY soon. I still have to sort through them though: I have about 2200 of them! I cannot wait to show them off!
And for now, my faithful readers, that is it. I hope this has put at least a glimpse of a smile on your lips. I am, alas, exhausted: the jet-lag has not been merciful to me. Blog you later!
P.S. Michael and I just finished Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones and it was AWESOME! You should read it; it's loads of fun!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Chapter 21 - In which there was a final, a formal, and meeting with Churchill
Greetings Blog! (and also to all potential, may-be readers out there!)
I am very sorry for neglecting you for so long... you know it is not in my nature! I am very sorry - but that's the finals at McGill University for you. All notion of time stops and you start calculating in "how many exams are left?" rather than hours or days...
Anyhow, I have already have my first final. Alas, by far the easiest one of all my exams. I am still quaking in my boots at the idea of the Japanese final. But I shall study hard (or try my best to do so) and we'll see...
My first final was for my Folklore class. I think I was pretty brilliant with it. I wrote, for the short essay section, 3 pages on how Rhiannon (from the 1st Branch of the Mabinogion) and Branwen (from the 2nd Branch of the Mabinogion) compare in light of the motif of the Calumniated Wife. I concluded that Branwen had to die at the end of her tale because she spoke out against the injustice done to her and that is totally unacceptable in Medieval Welsh society (I do not agree with this view in the slightest, especially since Branwen was humiliated and dishonoured for the DUMBEST reasons!!! But that is how the story goes and I cannot change that...) Anyways: I think my essay was bloody well brilliant...
But not as brilliant as essay #2, which was 6 pages single spaced about how right speech is applied in the 3rd and 4th Branches of the Mabinogi, as well as in the Tain and in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I argued about how fairies and folk of the Otherworld will use words and loopholes in speech against humans and how this can be avoided by right speech, and also that right speech spoken by humans can take advantage of loopholes in fairy speech to turn the tables against them.
*Sigh* God, am I good! ^___^
(I might have been completely rubbish, but I like to think that was not the case...)
Now I still have a Victorian Lit essay to write... *brain melts* I don't WANT to!!! *throws a tantrum* I am very sorry, but the texts we have to read a bloody BORING! (Venting done, thanks for your patience.)
And yesterday was the formal. Wonderful, wonderful Savoy Formal! It was really, truly great fun!! The food was a little scarce, but it was otherwise fantastic! We went to an art gallery where we danced and had food. And, of course, everyone was dressed up and glamed up to the utmost! I had the greatest trouble getting my hair right: for the second year in a row, we've had positively rotten weather for the formal! And what is the result of bad weather?? Frizzy hair! I wanted some light curls in my hair, so I slept on some cheap foam rollers from the dollar store (that's what happens when you don't have heat tools...) and it worked really well. Except that all the humidity made the beautiful, even curls frizz halfway through the day and, by evening, I had so many flyaway frizzies, I was sorely tempted to just shave off my hair! But after pouring a couple of ounces of hairspray into the palms of my hands and running that over my hair, I was able to flatten the frizz. I ended up with an easy updo (with some light finger waves) and a cute fascinator. I also had a gorgeous dress which feels light as air and has (I found that out when the formal came to a close) POCKETS!! It's awesome! Vanessa is the one who found the dress for me, so I am very grateful to her. Oh, and, if you must know, Michael looked super handsome in a navy pin-striped suit! (God, I love this man!)
Conclusion: great formal! It was amazing! And everyone looked stunning!
And now, the grand finale... Doctor Who!! I saw the third episode of the 5th season today. The Doctor meets Winston Churchill!! During the London Blitz!! >w< *squee* It was an awesome encounter! The whole episode is like Star Wars meets Sky Captain, but with the Doctor (which automatically makes it better written). It's great fun and fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed it!! ---Spoiler Alert--- The new Daleks are really funny: their paint jobs make them look like they're straight from a Smarties box!! XD
So, three cheers for the Doctor! I'm looking forward to next week!! *fangirl squee* I love this show! I found it to be my life support (aside from Michael) during eggzaminashun time!
So, I hope I've allowed you to catch up (and that you, dear blog, haven't missed me too much!) and more will be coming soon! But not before Wednesday. Wednesday is my huge-ass-evil-massive-three-hour-exam-of-doom Japanese final... until then... I guess all we can do is pray! *sweatdrop* Until then!
I am very sorry for neglecting you for so long... you know it is not in my nature! I am very sorry - but that's the finals at McGill University for you. All notion of time stops and you start calculating in "how many exams are left?" rather than hours or days...
Anyhow, I have already have my first final. Alas, by far the easiest one of all my exams. I am still quaking in my boots at the idea of the Japanese final. But I shall study hard (or try my best to do so) and we'll see...
My first final was for my Folklore class. I think I was pretty brilliant with it. I wrote, for the short essay section, 3 pages on how Rhiannon (from the 1st Branch of the Mabinogion) and Branwen (from the 2nd Branch of the Mabinogion) compare in light of the motif of the Calumniated Wife. I concluded that Branwen had to die at the end of her tale because she spoke out against the injustice done to her and that is totally unacceptable in Medieval Welsh society (I do not agree with this view in the slightest, especially since Branwen was humiliated and dishonoured for the DUMBEST reasons!!! But that is how the story goes and I cannot change that...) Anyways: I think my essay was bloody well brilliant...
But not as brilliant as essay #2, which was 6 pages single spaced about how right speech is applied in the 3rd and 4th Branches of the Mabinogi, as well as in the Tain and in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I argued about how fairies and folk of the Otherworld will use words and loopholes in speech against humans and how this can be avoided by right speech, and also that right speech spoken by humans can take advantage of loopholes in fairy speech to turn the tables against them.
*Sigh* God, am I good! ^___^
(I might have been completely rubbish, but I like to think that was not the case...)
Now I still have a Victorian Lit essay to write... *brain melts* I don't WANT to!!! *throws a tantrum* I am very sorry, but the texts we have to read a bloody BORING! (Venting done, thanks for your patience.)
And yesterday was the formal. Wonderful, wonderful Savoy Formal! It was really, truly great fun!! The food was a little scarce, but it was otherwise fantastic! We went to an art gallery where we danced and had food. And, of course, everyone was dressed up and glamed up to the utmost! I had the greatest trouble getting my hair right: for the second year in a row, we've had positively rotten weather for the formal! And what is the result of bad weather?? Frizzy hair! I wanted some light curls in my hair, so I slept on some cheap foam rollers from the dollar store (that's what happens when you don't have heat tools...) and it worked really well. Except that all the humidity made the beautiful, even curls frizz halfway through the day and, by evening, I had so many flyaway frizzies, I was sorely tempted to just shave off my hair! But after pouring a couple of ounces of hairspray into the palms of my hands and running that over my hair, I was able to flatten the frizz. I ended up with an easy updo (with some light finger waves) and a cute fascinator. I also had a gorgeous dress which feels light as air and has (I found that out when the formal came to a close) POCKETS!! It's awesome! Vanessa is the one who found the dress for me, so I am very grateful to her. Oh, and, if you must know, Michael looked super handsome in a navy pin-striped suit! (God, I love this man!)
Conclusion: great formal! It was amazing! And everyone looked stunning!
And now, the grand finale... Doctor Who!! I saw the third episode of the 5th season today. The Doctor meets Winston Churchill!! During the London Blitz!! >w< *squee* It was an awesome encounter! The whole episode is like Star Wars meets Sky Captain, but with the Doctor (which automatically makes it better written). It's great fun and fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed it!! ---Spoiler Alert--- The new Daleks are really funny: their paint jobs make them look like they're straight from a Smarties box!! XD
So, three cheers for the Doctor! I'm looking forward to next week!! *fangirl squee* I love this show! I found it to be my life support (aside from Michael) during eggzaminashun time!
So, I hope I've allowed you to catch up (and that you, dear blog, haven't missed me too much!) and more will be coming soon! But not before Wednesday. Wednesday is my huge-ass-evil-massive-three-hour-exam-of-doom Japanese final... until then... I guess all we can do is pray! *sweatdrop* Until then!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Chapter 19 - In which Naria distracts herself
Tonight was fun. I went to a Toga party. Unfortunately, I stood to far away from the food table and missed out on most of it. But it was really fun. I made myself a "Salome" stola out of sheer black fabric I had left over. I looked good! :P I had added some red fabric around my waist to hide my undies and my stola was held together by a huge, fake sapphire brooch... which really did make me look like the vixen seductress who could get whatever she wanted out of kings! XD I love dressing up! It was a fun party! I enjoyed talking to some really good friends, and Michael had some trouble with the bedsheet he used as a toga: it was a little short on him! He looked like a little slave boy used for... unorthodox purposes... lol
In other forms of distraction, whilst waiting for Sunday, impatiently waiting for the newest Doctor Who episode, I decided to distract myself and watch Torchwood. Torchwood is basically a spin-off from Doctor Who, featuring the lovely John Barrowman (who, despite being from Glasgow, actually articulates!) as Captain Jack Harkness; the man who seduces anything gorgeous. Anyways, I decided to watch it because I find John Barrowman hot, though I think I might prefer David Tennant (he has such a wonderful smile!). ... okay, quit fantasising about either of them and write, Naria!
So, my opinion on Torchwood... It has some good bits, interesting details. I like the fact that they do not only ever confront aliens. They also have to face other things, like the ugliness of human nature and people just turning into psychos... and faeries/mara (which, for once, are not justified by alien activity). So yeah, I really like that aspect of Torchwood. However, I hate the main character, Gwen, who, on top of having a dreadful dialect, has a gap between her teeth that would give Madonna a run for her money!! Now, I wouldn't mind so much that the main character of the series is so terrible if the show had less sex in it. Don't get me wrong: I love sexy shows! But in order for a show to be sexy, you want the GOOD looking people to be doing it!! The gap-toothed lady just doesn't cut it for me and all the romance scenes involving her do nothing for me but cause an exasperated eye-roll. I mean, I want to see BARROWMAN naked! Instead they show all these other unattractive guys in bed!!! I've watched up to episode 11 and still no sexy Jack Harkness doing sexy stuff... He's got lots of cool lines and that's about it!! It's like Russel T. Davies was really desperate when he created the show and got rid of some of his sex drive writing it... but he botched it. He forgot to give Jack the sexy parts and instead gave them all to Gwen... lame! So I'm looking forward to the next Who episode. Much more fun in general. Though I still think I'll end up watching all of Torchwood, because that's the sort of thing I do.
Finally, depending on what my plans will be for the summer, I have found a reasonable distraction... Should work keep me here in Montreal, I found where I might go during my spare time to have some fun. First of all, I have quite a few friends sticking around in Montreal this year, so there'll be plenty of get-togethers, hopefully. Then I'll move into the new apartment in June. I am definately planning a trip to a theme park, whether La Ronde or Canada's Wonderland will depend... though I would LOVE to see Canada's Wonderland, as I've never been. Naturally, Michael and I will go see Les Miserables (yes! the kick-ass, beautiful musical!) with my mum (I can't wait!!). And lastly, a cool distraction, should I have the time, would be to see Totem. Totem is a Cirque du Soleil show that has pitched it's tent in the Old Port. I don't think Michael has ever seen a Cirque perfomance (not live at least) and I will always remember the one I saw in the Old Port, a few years back. It was AMAZING! I love the MUSIC they use and how they incorporate theater and storylines into their circus! Though, I also remember that an acrobat attempted a jump when I went to see it, and she fell pretty badly (had to be carried off stage, poor thing, but the show went on). Anyways, on my last flight to Toronto, I also saw the official Alegria performance (the filmed version of it). It is FANTASTIC! I've always loved the music to Alegria since it came out (I have it on a CD somewhere) and the costumes are fabulous! Though there was a girl in Alegria, a blue-haired asian, who did really creepy contortions! She could, literally, sit with her bum on her head. It's kinda scary and gross and it leads me to the conclusion that Asians who do circus, like her, have no bones, only muscles and cartilage, lol! And there was also an awesome hoola-hoop act in Alegria! I love that act! First of all because I can't manage to keep one hoola-hoop up for more than three seconds and this girl was using 4 simultaneously on different limbs. Secondly, she had a great choreography and moved like a dancer. It was so ethereal, almost alien. I suppose that her skill will probably be more useful than other circus skills later on, because you can get a job dancing and doing choreography a lot even if you are not in shape for circus anymore... I think. Anyways... I digress. I should look into the ticket pricing. It looks fun. Their poster is great! It was all over the metro (which is what sparked the idea).
Anyways, that's it. Tomorrow will be official essay writing day. I had a fabulous photoshoot this afternoon (before I forget to tell you!) and I will post photos soon!
In other forms of distraction, whilst waiting for Sunday, impatiently waiting for the newest Doctor Who episode, I decided to distract myself and watch Torchwood. Torchwood is basically a spin-off from Doctor Who, featuring the lovely John Barrowman (who, despite being from Glasgow, actually articulates!) as Captain Jack Harkness; the man who seduces anything gorgeous. Anyways, I decided to watch it because I find John Barrowman hot, though I think I might prefer David Tennant (he has such a wonderful smile!). ... okay, quit fantasising about either of them and write, Naria!
So, my opinion on Torchwood... It has some good bits, interesting details. I like the fact that they do not only ever confront aliens. They also have to face other things, like the ugliness of human nature and people just turning into psychos... and faeries/mara (which, for once, are not justified by alien activity). So yeah, I really like that aspect of Torchwood. However, I hate the main character, Gwen, who, on top of having a dreadful dialect, has a gap between her teeth that would give Madonna a run for her money!! Now, I wouldn't mind so much that the main character of the series is so terrible if the show had less sex in it. Don't get me wrong: I love sexy shows! But in order for a show to be sexy, you want the GOOD looking people to be doing it!! The gap-toothed lady just doesn't cut it for me and all the romance scenes involving her do nothing for me but cause an exasperated eye-roll. I mean, I want to see BARROWMAN naked! Instead they show all these other unattractive guys in bed!!! I've watched up to episode 11 and still no sexy Jack Harkness doing sexy stuff... He's got lots of cool lines and that's about it!! It's like Russel T. Davies was really desperate when he created the show and got rid of some of his sex drive writing it... but he botched it. He forgot to give Jack the sexy parts and instead gave them all to Gwen... lame! So I'm looking forward to the next Who episode. Much more fun in general. Though I still think I'll end up watching all of Torchwood, because that's the sort of thing I do.
Finally, depending on what my plans will be for the summer, I have found a reasonable distraction... Should work keep me here in Montreal, I found where I might go during my spare time to have some fun. First of all, I have quite a few friends sticking around in Montreal this year, so there'll be plenty of get-togethers, hopefully. Then I'll move into the new apartment in June. I am definately planning a trip to a theme park, whether La Ronde or Canada's Wonderland will depend... though I would LOVE to see Canada's Wonderland, as I've never been. Naturally, Michael and I will go see Les Miserables (yes! the kick-ass, beautiful musical!) with my mum (I can't wait!!). And lastly, a cool distraction, should I have the time, would be to see Totem. Totem is a Cirque du Soleil show that has pitched it's tent in the Old Port. I don't think Michael has ever seen a Cirque perfomance (not live at least) and I will always remember the one I saw in the Old Port, a few years back. It was AMAZING! I love the MUSIC they use and how they incorporate theater and storylines into their circus! Though, I also remember that an acrobat attempted a jump when I went to see it, and she fell pretty badly (had to be carried off stage, poor thing, but the show went on). Anyways, on my last flight to Toronto, I also saw the official Alegria performance (the filmed version of it). It is FANTASTIC! I've always loved the music to Alegria since it came out (I have it on a CD somewhere) and the costumes are fabulous! Though there was a girl in Alegria, a blue-haired asian, who did really creepy contortions! She could, literally, sit with her bum on her head. It's kinda scary and gross and it leads me to the conclusion that Asians who do circus, like her, have no bones, only muscles and cartilage, lol! And there was also an awesome hoola-hoop act in Alegria! I love that act! First of all because I can't manage to keep one hoola-hoop up for more than three seconds and this girl was using 4 simultaneously on different limbs. Secondly, she had a great choreography and moved like a dancer. It was so ethereal, almost alien. I suppose that her skill will probably be more useful than other circus skills later on, because you can get a job dancing and doing choreography a lot even if you are not in shape for circus anymore... I think. Anyways... I digress. I should look into the ticket pricing. It looks fun. Their poster is great! It was all over the metro (which is what sparked the idea).
Anyways, that's it. Tomorrow will be official essay writing day. I had a fabulous photoshoot this afternoon (before I forget to tell you!) and I will post photos soon!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Chapter 18 - In which king Henry VIII of England is more awesome than ever
Despite all my whining and complaining about the folklore class, I cannot deny that I absolutely LOVE IT! Love it, love it LOOOOVE it!!! I just can't get enough of the subject, I drink it all up and feel inspired to write about 10 novels by the end of the 1 hour class. Okay, so the readings are a little lame, but that's the fault of Old English and Old Welsh disappearing into the dark bog of forgotten history... If only we could read the stuff in the original text, it would probably be a lot more poetic than its most basic Modern English translation. Aaaaanyways... LOVE the English folklore class!
Today's subject was Robin Hood. The oh-so-famous, still debated over, roguish archer, Robin Hood (a.k.a. Robin of Locksley). When I say debated over, I mean it: there is such a thing as the Robin Hood society trying to determine whether Mr. Take-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-poor actually existed or not. Jeez... what a waste of medievalist intellect. Who cares if he's real?! The stories are fun aren't they? That's all that matters!
Okay... I'm digressing...
So, it turns out that cosplay is not an invention of the modern day. Through today's class, we discovered that 16th century English courts LOVED to dress up like "the olden days." This means the Dark Ages and any time period before their own. Certain kings were famous for organizing jousting matches a la old-style, traditional, courtly knight. They had fun boasting about their nobility by pretending to be some feudal lord presiding over a match for the honour of some knight or other. So guess what? The beginning of Ren. Faires? It all started in the actual Renaissance! I squeed in class. I actually got distracted from my multi-tasking of note-taking and facebooking by what the teacher said about Renaissance people in early Medieval getup. Total, utter squee.
But, and here's the best part, COSPLAY finds it's origins at the same time period too. Now, obviously, it had nothing to do with the Anime Cosplay: Japan was not only too far off and a group of isolated islands that were hard to reach for Europeans, but the Japanese also wanted nothing to do with any Europeans and potential "conquerors." So Anime Cosplay would have to wait for a few centuries. But, if you are like me, and you decide to define Cosplay by: "doning costumes and attire that are particular to a specific character - usually anime - but also tv series, and novels in general" then Cosplay it was back then too.
For yes, in 16th century England, people dressed up as Robin Hood!! *Insert fangirl squee here* King Henry VIII of England was absolutely famous for his costume parties and his Robin Hood games. These games included stuff like archery contests and other activities (possibly activities from the Greenwood) that take place in the Robin Hood texts and legends. So King Henry VIII cosplayed! Your Majesty Henry Tudor, you're only becoming steadily and ever more awesome to my fangirlish eyes! No matter that you executed two wives (including Ann Boleyn... my favourite queen of England) - you still rock the socks off all the other European kingdoms of the time! Even today, I'm sure you'd kick some serious ass... though you'd have to get used to paying alimony rather than executing your wives.
So yeah. This was my very fun discovery of the day that I just HAD to share. I have always known that in Henry Tudor's day, courtly activities were numerous and included a lot of costume parties (especially in the days of dear queen Ann Boleyn, as she was a famous hostess of parties and - so say the books and the poets - a brilliant soprano singer). However, that he hosted Robin Hood parties that meant you had to dress up and renact the story is just AWESOME! Henry VIII is basically the precursor of any book-convention or Star-Trek convention. His parties attracted quite a few nobles in his day and were really big events... Ah... Tudors... How I wish I had lived in your day!!! *sigh*
Today's subject was Robin Hood. The oh-so-famous, still debated over, roguish archer, Robin Hood (a.k.a. Robin of Locksley). When I say debated over, I mean it: there is such a thing as the Robin Hood society trying to determine whether Mr. Take-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-poor actually existed or not. Jeez... what a waste of medievalist intellect. Who cares if he's real?! The stories are fun aren't they? That's all that matters!
Okay... I'm digressing...
So, it turns out that cosplay is not an invention of the modern day. Through today's class, we discovered that 16th century English courts LOVED to dress up like "the olden days." This means the Dark Ages and any time period before their own. Certain kings were famous for organizing jousting matches a la old-style, traditional, courtly knight. They had fun boasting about their nobility by pretending to be some feudal lord presiding over a match for the honour of some knight or other. So guess what? The beginning of Ren. Faires? It all started in the actual Renaissance! I squeed in class. I actually got distracted from my multi-tasking of note-taking and facebooking by what the teacher said about Renaissance people in early Medieval getup. Total, utter squee.
But, and here's the best part, COSPLAY finds it's origins at the same time period too. Now, obviously, it had nothing to do with the Anime Cosplay: Japan was not only too far off and a group of isolated islands that were hard to reach for Europeans, but the Japanese also wanted nothing to do with any Europeans and potential "conquerors." So Anime Cosplay would have to wait for a few centuries. But, if you are like me, and you decide to define Cosplay by: "doning costumes and attire that are particular to a specific character - usually anime - but also tv series, and novels in general" then Cosplay it was back then too.
For yes, in 16th century England, people dressed up as Robin Hood!! *Insert fangirl squee here* King Henry VIII of England was absolutely famous for his costume parties and his Robin Hood games. These games included stuff like archery contests and other activities (possibly activities from the Greenwood) that take place in the Robin Hood texts and legends. So King Henry VIII cosplayed! Your Majesty Henry Tudor, you're only becoming steadily and ever more awesome to my fangirlish eyes! No matter that you executed two wives (including Ann Boleyn... my favourite queen of England) - you still rock the socks off all the other European kingdoms of the time! Even today, I'm sure you'd kick some serious ass... though you'd have to get used to paying alimony rather than executing your wives.
So yeah. This was my very fun discovery of the day that I just HAD to share. I have always known that in Henry Tudor's day, courtly activities were numerous and included a lot of costume parties (especially in the days of dear queen Ann Boleyn, as she was a famous hostess of parties and - so say the books and the poets - a brilliant soprano singer). However, that he hosted Robin Hood parties that meant you had to dress up and renact the story is just AWESOME! Henry VIII is basically the precursor of any book-convention or Star-Trek convention. His parties attracted quite a few nobles in his day and were really big events... Ah... Tudors... How I wish I had lived in your day!!! *sigh*
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Chapter 17 - In which a dragon was trained, awkwardness occurred and speaking three languages has its advantages
... this chapter title does not describe my day in chronological order at all - but it sounded better this way. Sorry!
So here's the order of what actually happened today:
1 - Awkwardness occurred (around 10:25 a.m. this morning)
2 - Speaking three languages has its advantages (at about 4:00 p.m.)
3 - A dragon was trained (at 7:00 p.m.)
So lets begin with the awkwardness. First, I must explain that, next week, we have a short skit to present for Japanese class. Now, my team has become rather infamous in the class for being completely and utterly ridiculous. Last time, we did a pokemon skit and I was playing a crazy water pokemon trainer with huge pigtails... it was a blast!! This time around I am an over-the-top crazy hostess in a Maid Cafe (and I will be wearing my 7 inch platform heels for the occasion... this has a point, just wait for it). The scenario is that I fall in love with a guest to the cafe, but my ex-boyfriend shows up. My character broke up with him because he's far too short for my tastes (that's why the 7 inch heels will be required to make me about a foot taller than my teammates). Anyways, at the end of the skit we reconcile and we decided to make that obvious. Now, you must understand that it's an all-girls team and so we'd feel a little awkward actually kissing. My teammate suggested a mere hug, whereas I suggested a "theatrical" kiss. The stage kissing is the oldest trick in the book: place your thumb against victims lips and kiss your thumb. Your lips have never touched, but it looks quite realistic. I decided to demonstrate the theatrical kiss to one of my teammates before class to show what it looked like when the Japanese teacher walked in on our practice session. Biggest. Stare. Ever. We burst out laughing and went beet-red. We tried to explain that nothing actually happened, but, judging by her nod, I don't think she believed us... And so, awkwardness ensued. I cannot tell you how awkward it is to be caught fake-kissing another girl by a prof who has NO clue of what's going on....!!!! I was very subdued in Japanese class as a result.
When I got home, I took a healthy nap (though I should probably have studied Japanese instead), and then I got a call from my mum about applying for a summer job in Germany. She actually found a few carreer opportunities in Germany for me, one of which is summer camp work at a vacation spot. The advantage of this is that it is only 100 km away from Weimar, which is where Michael will be training at his summer programme. Meaning that, should I get the job, I can see Michael every weekend!! That would just be wonderful! And housing would be paid too!! I am really enthusiastic about this job idea, especially as I believe my capacity to express myself fluently in three languages will be a clear advantage for this post. Honestly: thank God my parents raised me to be fully trilingual! Not only is it a huge advantage for career opportunities such as these (and ever better job opportunities later on), but Michael also finds my use of three languages very sexy! ;-D (So many great advantages to linguistics, eh? You never know what men find hot! ^__^ ) Being trilingual also helps me when learning new languages, as I have a very nimble tongue for foreign words and can phonetically immitate all sorts of pronounciations. Unfortunately, it doesn't give me an innate grasp on grammar (which is why Japanese is getting me so down). But it is just amazing how much stuff I can pronounce really well without knowing a word of what I'm saying... Viva being trilingual! I love it! :P
Now... you must wonder how training a dragon comes into all this (that - or you already know the answer). I went to see new Dreamworks animation movie, How To Train Your Dragon, in IMAX 3D today (shut up! I know I should have studied Japanese! Now get off my back!). It was FANTASTIC!! I believe it is probably the best movie I have seen in theaters so far this year!! It is really cute and amazingly animated. The textures are incredibly real, but the animation does not attempt to be realistic in the slightest. Also, it takes place in a Viking village. Oh, yeah. My brother would love this movie: Vikings and bearded men. The movie also features the voice talents of Gerard Butler and David Tennant (OMG! my two favourite Scotsmen!! *squee* Too bad David Tennant has only 4 lines). I don't want to say too much about it, because people should go out and see this movie. Seriously: it's worth it! But it's super cute and really funny!! The dragons are waaay to cute to resist: they're like giant scaly cats!! You should see their reactions to catnip! XD And the movie is full of lines such as: "This is my village, where it snows for 9 months and it hails during the 3 other months. The food that grows here is tough and tasteless, and the people that grow here... even more so." Conclusion... WATCH IT! It's great and super fun and the dragon designs are just too hilarious! You will enjoy it. And someone should force my brother to see it... I mean, it fits right in to his Viking obsession!!
That's all. Except that now I really REALLY want a Night Fury Dragon!! *covet*
So here's the order of what actually happened today:
1 - Awkwardness occurred (around 10:25 a.m. this morning)
2 - Speaking three languages has its advantages (at about 4:00 p.m.)
3 - A dragon was trained (at 7:00 p.m.)
So lets begin with the awkwardness. First, I must explain that, next week, we have a short skit to present for Japanese class. Now, my team has become rather infamous in the class for being completely and utterly ridiculous. Last time, we did a pokemon skit and I was playing a crazy water pokemon trainer with huge pigtails... it was a blast!! This time around I am an over-the-top crazy hostess in a Maid Cafe (and I will be wearing my 7 inch platform heels for the occasion... this has a point, just wait for it). The scenario is that I fall in love with a guest to the cafe, but my ex-boyfriend shows up. My character broke up with him because he's far too short for my tastes (that's why the 7 inch heels will be required to make me about a foot taller than my teammates). Anyways, at the end of the skit we reconcile and we decided to make that obvious. Now, you must understand that it's an all-girls team and so we'd feel a little awkward actually kissing. My teammate suggested a mere hug, whereas I suggested a "theatrical" kiss. The stage kissing is the oldest trick in the book: place your thumb against victims lips and kiss your thumb. Your lips have never touched, but it looks quite realistic. I decided to demonstrate the theatrical kiss to one of my teammates before class to show what it looked like when the Japanese teacher walked in on our practice session. Biggest. Stare. Ever. We burst out laughing and went beet-red. We tried to explain that nothing actually happened, but, judging by her nod, I don't think she believed us... And so, awkwardness ensued. I cannot tell you how awkward it is to be caught fake-kissing another girl by a prof who has NO clue of what's going on....!!!! I was very subdued in Japanese class as a result.
When I got home, I took a healthy nap (though I should probably have studied Japanese instead), and then I got a call from my mum about applying for a summer job in Germany. She actually found a few carreer opportunities in Germany for me, one of which is summer camp work at a vacation spot. The advantage of this is that it is only 100 km away from Weimar, which is where Michael will be training at his summer programme. Meaning that, should I get the job, I can see Michael every weekend!! That would just be wonderful! And housing would be paid too!! I am really enthusiastic about this job idea, especially as I believe my capacity to express myself fluently in three languages will be a clear advantage for this post. Honestly: thank God my parents raised me to be fully trilingual! Not only is it a huge advantage for career opportunities such as these (and ever better job opportunities later on), but Michael also finds my use of three languages very sexy! ;-D (So many great advantages to linguistics, eh? You never know what men find hot! ^__^ ) Being trilingual also helps me when learning new languages, as I have a very nimble tongue for foreign words and can phonetically immitate all sorts of pronounciations. Unfortunately, it doesn't give me an innate grasp on grammar (which is why Japanese is getting me so down). But it is just amazing how much stuff I can pronounce really well without knowing a word of what I'm saying... Viva being trilingual! I love it! :P
Now... you must wonder how training a dragon comes into all this (that - or you already know the answer). I went to see new Dreamworks animation movie, How To Train Your Dragon, in IMAX 3D today (shut up! I know I should have studied Japanese! Now get off my back!). It was FANTASTIC!! I believe it is probably the best movie I have seen in theaters so far this year!! It is really cute and amazingly animated. The textures are incredibly real, but the animation does not attempt to be realistic in the slightest. Also, it takes place in a Viking village. Oh, yeah. My brother would love this movie: Vikings and bearded men. The movie also features the voice talents of Gerard Butler and David Tennant (OMG! my two favourite Scotsmen!! *squee* Too bad David Tennant has only 4 lines). I don't want to say too much about it, because people should go out and see this movie. Seriously: it's worth it! But it's super cute and really funny!! The dragons are waaay to cute to resist: they're like giant scaly cats!! You should see their reactions to catnip! XD And the movie is full of lines such as: "This is my village, where it snows for 9 months and it hails during the 3 other months. The food that grows here is tough and tasteless, and the people that grow here... even more so." Conclusion... WATCH IT! It's great and super fun and the dragon designs are just too hilarious! You will enjoy it. And someone should force my brother to see it... I mean, it fits right in to his Viking obsession!!
That's all. Except that now I really REALLY want a Night Fury Dragon!! *covet*
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Chapter 15 - In which there were fun times and a visit to the Doctor
Today was a wonderful day... especially weather wise!! I mean, 27 degrees? In April? REALLY???!!! O.o That's a true gift from God right there for Easter (or rock solid proof of the mysterious and little known phenomenon called "global warming"...) Anyways - blue skies, bright sunshine and warmth (and high heels that have peep toes!!)!!! Fun times!!
Alright, my grammatically incorrect phrasing is done now. ;-P
So, today, the day started with a wonderful photoshoot. It was a lot of fun!! I got to wear my wonderful faux-snakeskin dress and I got to pretend to be a superhero! And Michael got to dress up as the cutest explorer ever (move over Shia Laboeuf for the new, improved version of Indiana Jones' son!! XD )... And the photographer had the cutest cat ever!! It's name was Fritz in the name of Fritz Lang. It was a black and white kitteh, with an entirely black face, save for the whiskers and it's "lips" which made it look like it had an epic milk-moustache! It was a really playful and curious cat! It made me squee a great deal...
After the photoshoot, we headed out for food, to a place called Tequila Tacos. It is a tiny (and I mean TINY - only about 10 tables) Mexican restaurant. We had absolutely to-die-for-delicous tacos and I had a Pina Colada with a dash of Midori in it. YUMMY!!!! It was sooooooo delicious! My taste buds went into a Mexican Mariachi dance!! And it just made me think: cocktails are better enjoyed in the summer. No, honestly: this explains why I drink so little alcohol in the winter. Cocktails just REQUIRE warm weather, sexy high heals and glaring sunlight. They are so refreshing and remind you of the tropic so much that, should you have one in winter, you would immediately sink into a huge depression because you're too broke to afford the ticket for that next flight to Costa Rica. ... Actually, my mouth still waters at the thought of the food and drink from this afternoon...
Then we had a nap at home (because we did get up horribly early for the photoshoot) and we woke up just in time to go to the "Eleventh Doctor Premier Party." Indeed, one of our good friends planned a little get-together, all in the honour of this great, awesome, out of this world, kick-ass show. Now... I was very concerned before we started. Following all appearances, this new, young bow-tie-wearing Doctor would not be able to live up to David Tennant's standard as the Doctor and that the show would go downhill too quickly and die. I WAS SO WRONG!!! It was AMAZING! This new Doctor (though not in the least equipped with David Tennant's good looks) is charming, literally BURSTING with energy, HILARIOUSLY funny and, as every doctor is, a bloody genuis. The new companion is fun, and super cute and a redhead... What can go wrong?? This episode was well written and absolutely a JOY to watch!! The new Doctor enjoys his fishsticks dipped in custard cream by the way... (eeewwww!!)
So yeah - absolutely a wonderful, great episode! I feel really bad about how harshly we judged Mr. Matt Smith (the new doctor) before we saw the show... He did have extremely big shoes to fill, but he rose to the challenge extremely well and did admirably. I am now looking forward to the next episodes (next one comes out next Sunday... I can't wait!) The next episodes look fabulous... in the short preview they gave of the rest of the season it looks a) positively hilarious, and b) full of awesome storylines!! Here are only a few: Van Gogh, Stonehenge, the return of the "Blink" angels, some form of vampire-aliens, cybermen, and, of course, our beloved Daleks (exterminate!!).
If you get the chance, WATCH the new Doctor Who!! It is really worth it and totally funny! The episode is called "The Eleventh Hour" and it is the first epsiode of season 5. Today was the first air date.
And the get-together ended with me in total fangirl mode over a book called "The Tudor Tailor." I found out about it via a British costuming website and it can only be ordered online here... But today, I finally laid my hands on it. Victoria, the wonderful person who organized the party, had borrowed it from a library!!! It is truly an amazing book! I squeed very muchly (yes, "muchly").
So yeah. That's it for the news today... YAY FOR DOCTOR WHO!!! I WANT TO SEE MOOOOOORE!!!
*Edit: for those who believe Matt Smith still has to work hard to really be the doctor, I'd like them to consider that a) though David Tennant is absolutely awesome and wonderful, filling his shoes is hard when you loved the wonderful scotsman, so give Mr. Smith a break...
and b) He wouldn't have been chosen for this role if he wasn't capable of doing it! Get used to it!
Note: his name is Raymond Mayland (I hope I spelled it right), the painting is called "Dream II" All credits go to him.
The concierge lent it to us, in the hope that it will get him some more exposure and that he will be able to sell some of his artwork. His abstract work is absolutely stunning! He gave us a little exhibit. It was absolutely wonderful! He's got an amazing eye! Too bad we didn't know this before!!
Alright, my grammatically incorrect phrasing is done now. ;-P
So, today, the day started with a wonderful photoshoot. It was a lot of fun!! I got to wear my wonderful faux-snakeskin dress and I got to pretend to be a superhero! And Michael got to dress up as the cutest explorer ever (move over Shia Laboeuf for the new, improved version of Indiana Jones' son!! XD )... And the photographer had the cutest cat ever!! It's name was Fritz in the name of Fritz Lang. It was a black and white kitteh, with an entirely black face, save for the whiskers and it's "lips" which made it look like it had an epic milk-moustache! It was a really playful and curious cat! It made me squee a great deal...
After the photoshoot, we headed out for food, to a place called Tequila Tacos. It is a tiny (and I mean TINY - only about 10 tables) Mexican restaurant. We had absolutely to-die-for-delicous tacos and I had a Pina Colada with a dash of Midori in it. YUMMY!!!! It was sooooooo delicious! My taste buds went into a Mexican Mariachi dance!! And it just made me think: cocktails are better enjoyed in the summer. No, honestly: this explains why I drink so little alcohol in the winter. Cocktails just REQUIRE warm weather, sexy high heals and glaring sunlight. They are so refreshing and remind you of the tropic so much that, should you have one in winter, you would immediately sink into a huge depression because you're too broke to afford the ticket for that next flight to Costa Rica. ... Actually, my mouth still waters at the thought of the food and drink from this afternoon...
Then we had a nap at home (because we did get up horribly early for the photoshoot) and we woke up just in time to go to the "Eleventh Doctor Premier Party." Indeed, one of our good friends planned a little get-together, all in the honour of this great, awesome, out of this world, kick-ass show. Now... I was very concerned before we started. Following all appearances, this new, young bow-tie-wearing Doctor would not be able to live up to David Tennant's standard as the Doctor and that the show would go downhill too quickly and die. I WAS SO WRONG!!! It was AMAZING! This new Doctor (though not in the least equipped with David Tennant's good looks) is charming, literally BURSTING with energy, HILARIOUSLY funny and, as every doctor is, a bloody genuis. The new companion is fun, and super cute and a redhead... What can go wrong?? This episode was well written and absolutely a JOY to watch!! The new Doctor enjoys his fishsticks dipped in custard cream by the way... (eeewwww!!)
So yeah - absolutely a wonderful, great episode! I feel really bad about how harshly we judged Mr. Matt Smith (the new doctor) before we saw the show... He did have extremely big shoes to fill, but he rose to the challenge extremely well and did admirably. I am now looking forward to the next episodes (next one comes out next Sunday... I can't wait!) The next episodes look fabulous... in the short preview they gave of the rest of the season it looks a) positively hilarious, and b) full of awesome storylines!! Here are only a few: Van Gogh, Stonehenge, the return of the "Blink" angels, some form of vampire-aliens, cybermen, and, of course, our beloved Daleks (exterminate!!).
If you get the chance, WATCH the new Doctor Who!! It is really worth it and totally funny! The episode is called "The Eleventh Hour" and it is the first epsiode of season 5. Today was the first air date.
And the get-together ended with me in total fangirl mode over a book called "The Tudor Tailor." I found out about it via a British costuming website and it can only be ordered online here... But today, I finally laid my hands on it. Victoria, the wonderful person who organized the party, had borrowed it from a library!!! It is truly an amazing book! I squeed very muchly (yes, "muchly").
So yeah. That's it for the news today... YAY FOR DOCTOR WHO!!! I WANT TO SEE MOOOOOORE!!!
*Edit: for those who believe Matt Smith still has to work hard to really be the doctor, I'd like them to consider that a) though David Tennant is absolutely awesome and wonderful, filling his shoes is hard when you loved the wonderful scotsman, so give Mr. Smith a break...
and b) He wouldn't have been chosen for this role if he wasn't capable of doing it! Get used to it!
P.S. Why are interesting discoveries only made when you are about to leave someplace? We are officially moving out of out apartment, and it turns out that we found out, on Thursday night, that the concierge of our apartment is actually an AMAZING self-taught painter!! Here's a picture for you all to see:
Note: his name is Raymond Mayland (I hope I spelled it right), the painting is called "Dream II" All credits go to him.
The concierge lent it to us, in the hope that it will get him some more exposure and that he will be able to sell some of his artwork. His abstract work is absolutely stunning! He gave us a little exhibit. It was absolutely wonderful! He's got an amazing eye! Too bad we didn't know this before!!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Chapter 13 - In which Naria still hates her essays and slash-fiction fangirls will squee
This post is dedicated to my favourite yaoi-girls! ;D Oh, come on! You know who you are!!
So...
The essay that is presently bogging me down is for the subject called English Literature and Folklore. Now, don't get me wrong: the class itself is fascinating! I wouldn't have chosen it if it weren't! We are studying Medieval literature and how folklore and folktales are included in said literature. It's fascinating what people believed back in the Middle Ages and how much of it transpired into their literature... And it's not just stories about King Arthur and Merlin either! You've got giants (in Ireland), fairy mistresses and lovers, journeys to the fairy otherworld, outwitting of magical foes, and many nonsensical references to how Britain and the ancestry of British monarchs is somehow descended from Troy... (I still don't understand how the Old Kings of England thought it made them more noble and honourable to be descended from Troy, when the Trojans are the morons who were gullible enough to let the horse in... oh, and when Trojan royalty was dumb enough to think they could get away with kidnapping another king's wife!)
Anyhoots. So the class is AWESOME. It's really interesting and very inspiring to someone like myself who loves Medieval lit and folktales... however...
the readings suck.
No, seriously, they SUCK!!
I said so in the previous post. On a literary aspect, when one looks at the style of writing, it's really, really bad!! The stories are interesting, but they are just not readable.
Right now, I am reading The Mabinogion. This book includes the four branches of the Mabinogi as well as a few other stories from Wales. Yes, I am reading Medieval Welsh literature. Of course, it's translated, because I can't think of anyone who's fluent in Old Welsh anymore. Even the Medievalists of McGill can't read the language fluently, though, to their credit, they can pronounce the tongue-twister weird-ass names really well! They can even understand scraps of Old English, Old Welsh and Old Irish... but, let's face it, no one really speaks any of these three...
Now, for my essay, I am focussing on the third branch of the Mabinogi. Here's an example of how badly written the thing is. What follows is a rape scene:
And now I'm getting to the slash... Yaoi-fans attention!
So, the two brothers from the paragraph I quoted earlier raped the girl. Okay, you follow me so far? Check. Now, mister angry husband comes in, and he happens to know magic. So he decides to punish the brothers...
You got me: MEDIEVAL SLASH FICTION BETWEEN BROTHERS!!
The king turns the two brothers into animals, one into a male and the other into a female and he orders them to reproduce. The year after, he changes them into the oposite sex, the brother who was female becomes male and vice versa. And they MUST reproduce again!! And this was written in the 12th century!!
Now, I don't really understand what you slash fangirls really enjoy about some boy-on-boy (especially because gay men are just not interested in women - ergo: a complete waste!), but I have come to understand that incest between brothers is rather popular in fiction these days... Turns out, it was in the past as well, lol.
Oh, and the funniest thing? When, after 3 years, the brothers are turned back into humans, they immediately forgive angry husband man, even though he forced them to live like animals and reproduce... they must have had a hell of a good time then, eh? ;-D
Okay, I've ranted enough... I've probably traumatized my mum...
XD
So...
The essay that is presently bogging me down is for the subject called English Literature and Folklore. Now, don't get me wrong: the class itself is fascinating! I wouldn't have chosen it if it weren't! We are studying Medieval literature and how folklore and folktales are included in said literature. It's fascinating what people believed back in the Middle Ages and how much of it transpired into their literature... And it's not just stories about King Arthur and Merlin either! You've got giants (in Ireland), fairy mistresses and lovers, journeys to the fairy otherworld, outwitting of magical foes, and many nonsensical references to how Britain and the ancestry of British monarchs is somehow descended from Troy... (I still don't understand how the Old Kings of England thought it made them more noble and honourable to be descended from Troy, when the Trojans are the morons who were gullible enough to let the horse in... oh, and when Trojan royalty was dumb enough to think they could get away with kidnapping another king's wife!)
Anyhoots. So the class is AWESOME. It's really interesting and very inspiring to someone like myself who loves Medieval lit and folktales... however...
the readings suck.
No, seriously, they SUCK!!
I said so in the previous post. On a literary aspect, when one looks at the style of writing, it's really, really bad!! The stories are interesting, but they are just not readable.
Right now, I am reading The Mabinogion. This book includes the four branches of the Mabinogi as well as a few other stories from Wales. Yes, I am reading Medieval Welsh literature. Of course, it's translated, because I can't think of anyone who's fluent in Old Welsh anymore. Even the Medievalists of McGill can't read the language fluently, though, to their credit, they can pronounce the tongue-twister weird-ass names really well! They can even understand scraps of Old English, Old Welsh and Old Irish... but, let's face it, no one really speaks any of these three...
Now, for my essay, I am focussing on the third branch of the Mabinogi. Here's an example of how badly written the thing is. What follows is a rape scene:
But that night, Gwydion son of Don and Gwilfaethwy his brother returned to Caer Dathyl. And in the bed of Math son of Mathonwy, Gilfaethwy and Goewin daughter of Pebin were put to sleep together, and her maidens were forced out violently, and she was taken against her will that night.
I guess that censorship isn't really required here, is it? The girl isn't even upset about the rape the next morning. She's more freaked out by the fact that now she has shamed her lord than by the fact that she was raped... I mean, seriously???!! This was the rape scene?! Even the state of Michigan would rate it "G" for "general" - this text could go into a family movie an no one would know the difference!And now I'm getting to the slash... Yaoi-fans attention!
So, the two brothers from the paragraph I quoted earlier raped the girl. Okay, you follow me so far? Check. Now, mister angry husband comes in, and he happens to know magic. So he decides to punish the brothers...
You got me: MEDIEVAL SLASH FICTION BETWEEN BROTHERS!!
The king turns the two brothers into animals, one into a male and the other into a female and he orders them to reproduce. The year after, he changes them into the oposite sex, the brother who was female becomes male and vice versa. And they MUST reproduce again!! And this was written in the 12th century!!
Now, I don't really understand what you slash fangirls really enjoy about some boy-on-boy (especially because gay men are just not interested in women - ergo: a complete waste!), but I have come to understand that incest between brothers is rather popular in fiction these days... Turns out, it was in the past as well, lol.
Oh, and the funniest thing? When, after 3 years, the brothers are turned back into humans, they immediately forgive angry husband man, even though he forced them to live like animals and reproduce... they must have had a hell of a good time then, eh? ;-D
Okay, I've ranted enough... I've probably traumatized my mum...
XD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
