Monthly Archive: April 2010

Books

Red Son by

by Mark Millar

I love the idea behind this graphic novel. Superman, instead of being raised by the Kents in Kansas, instead lands in the middle of Russia and is raised on a collective farm. Growing up, instead of embodying the American Dream, he becomes the Champion of the common worker. And so much of it is just cool. There are loads of great touches, I loved the idea of the alternate Batman.

Unfortunately it never got beyond the “oooh that sounds cool” aspect of the story.

28 April 2010
Weekly memes

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday, from Should be reading

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
27 April 2010
Weekly Photos

2010 #11

I’ve been very lax about my weekly photos, but look, I distract you with a cat

26 April 2010
Weekly memes

Teaser Tues… Thursday

Jeez, I just get later and later don’t I? But this isn’t my fault, I went on holiday so obviously I don’t stick to timetables while on holiday.

Teaser Tuesday, from Should be reading

* Grab your current read
* Open to a random page
* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

22 April 2010
Moving Pictures / Reviews

Whip it! [based on the book] by dir. by

Dir: Drew Barrymore
Writ: Shauna Cross, based on her novel

Bliss Cavender works at a typical American diner, under her mother’s guidance she does pageants, and she goes to school. It isn’t an ideal life. She wants out. One day, while out shopping she sees some local roller derby girls and wants to investigate. Herself and best friend Pash pretend to be going to see the local football team but instead head for the roller derby, and before you know it Bliss is trying out for a team.

Can I just say that I loved this film. It was teh awesome!

22 April 2010
Moving Pictures / Reviews

Kick-ass dir. by

Dir:Matthew Vaughn
Writ: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn based on the graphic novel by Mark Millar & John Romita Jr.
With all the people out there who love comic books, with all those millions of people who love superheroes, why hasn’t anyone ever tried it. That’s what Dave Lizewski wonders. It isn’t that he thinks it is sensible, but surely it stands to reason that someone, somewhere will try it? Or has tried it? Well, why not him. So he goes online and buys a scuba diving suit, and low and behold, Kick-ass is born. Things do not go well for him. He’s a weedy teenager out on his own trying to fit the bad guys. He gets his ass kicked, on more than one occasion, but he also gets famous. And comes to the attention of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, two real superheroes who know enough about their job to keep themselves totally secret. Did I mention that Hit-Girl is like eleven or something?

22 April 2010
Books

The underneath by

Author: Kathi Apelt
This is the story of an abandoned cat, an old hound dog who becomes her friend and her kittens, and the family they become. But it is also a tale of old Grandmother Moccasin, a shape-chaning lemia, who is trapped in jar and by her own anger and resentment at her betrayal, as she sees it, by those she loved. And through its blending of myth and floklore it is the perfect fit for my Once Upon a Time reading list. It is also a children’s book, so it shouldn’t take you to long to get through. Although that does not mean that this doesn’t have darkness.

19 April 2010
Books

A primate’s memoir by

I first came across a mention of Robert M. Saplosky on Metafilter and I was a little interested, so I did what any librarian might do, and ordered one of his books. To be honest my expectations weren’t all that high. My personal reading challenge for 2010 might be to read more non-fiction, but at the same time I know that non-fiction often requires more concentration and time than fiction, and then there was the fact that Sapolsky is a neurobiologist, and to be totally honest I really didn’t think it’d be all that interested. But I challenged myself, and was I ever glad that I did because from the opening page this really is a delight to read. …

15 April 2010
Weekly memes

A meme! a meme!

It’s been a long time since this blog has played along in a meme, but lets hop back on the bandwagon with Teaser… Tuesdays? Hmmm, today’s a Wednesday… Ah well. I’m guessing I’ll usually be late so why not start off as I’ll probably continue :)

14 April 2010
Books

The forest of hands & teeth by

Author: Carrie Ryan
I think that one of the main reasons I picked this book up was because of that title; The forest of hands & teeth it just seems so evocative somehow. And the blurb itself sounded vaguely interesting; “In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent.”

11 April 2010
Moving Pictures / Reviews

Clash of the Titans by dir. by , , , ,

The film opens at sea, in a storm. A fisherman hauls in an ornate box and after prising it open finds a baby boy and his dead mother. He and his wife raise this child as their own, loving him just as much as their flesh and blood daughter, whom they bear some years later. We know this because Pete Postlethwaite tells us so. This boy, Perseus, does not know it, but he is a demi-god, the son of Zeus himself. And he is about to get caught up in a conflict between humanity and the Gods of Ancient Greece.

9 April 2010
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