All done!

Phew.

I’m still a bit heartbroken from the ending of the 10th Doctor on DW! (I'd been laughing at people who said they were going to cry, and then half an hour before the ending I got a lump in my throat, and ten minutes before the ending, promptly burst into tears. WHAT. I've never cried at a television show before, and hell, I'm not even in the DW fandom, it's just something I enjoy watching from time to time, but I cried like a baby. Stupid Tennant and his acting. Stupid Bernard Cribbins for ditto-ing it. Stupid Murray Gold for his fantastic music. Stupid Russell T Davies for being a terrible writer half the time, but always packing a punch. The last line that comes out of Ten's mouth made the girly tears even worse, but, of course, the next Doctor trailer made me burst into hysterical laughter so I was crying and laughing. Dignified.)

At any rate, it was nice to finish FFXIII, too. What a weekend. I've been at it pretty solidly since the 25th, but I've had the odd day where I wasn't home, and sadly made up the hours in the evening.

Princess and the Frog is also grand. Fantastic Mr Fox tomorrow!

But, yes, XIII. What a thoroughly satisfying ride, and aside from some asinine level design (I love linear games, it takes a lot to make me say this!) a damn well done game. I thoroughly recommend grabbing it when it comes out, and if you were tossing up getting a PS3 for it, I'd take the jump! (Or an XBox would be cheaper, but there might be some compression issues, but time will tell.) I'm so in love with my new baby, by the way, not to mention I got the internet to work on it. I have trophies. I love the idea of downloading games - VAGRANT STORY, YES PLEASE - but the 1GB demo download for Dante's Inferno? Ouch. Understandable, but ouch.

It's also a bit unnerving how much the PS3s heat up, though. I wonder if it's the hard drive or the Blu Ray reader that is doing it, as the PS2 never heated up that much, nor the DVD players around here.

I actually started typing up a mini review of sorts for XIII - spoiler free, mind you - but once I kept typing bits, I wanted to type more, so I'll leave it for tonight.

But DAMN if the XIII logo turns out to not be the best in the series. WOWOWOW. Here I was thinking it was a bit lame!

Lightning's name does not disappoint, either. Yowza.

Can’t wait for the dub, which I’m really, really surprised about, I thought I’d be over XIII entirely. (VIVA LA AUSTRALIAN would be apart of that, yes.) I don’t think I’ll fully complete the hunts/full weapon level until the English version, but I ended up doing more than I thought. (There was an amazing little thrill when Fang first broke the 60 000 barrier. That’s ironically still not much in the scheme of things!) Although there is a rumor going around that if you get the Platinum Trophy – ie Finish Every Little Thing and Get Lots of Five Stars – you’ll get a bonus ending. I’m calling 50/50 bull, but I have to admit, I thought one was going to come up because there was a brief, weird stall between the credits and ‘The End’ sign, which is normally when a bonus scene is trigged. Still, XII didn’t have one either, an so on and so forth. But I want one so much, phooey.

But, yes, am indeed thoroughly satisfied, weirdly happy and a little bit sad. It's not your mother's brother's FF. Or sister's. It's a new crossbreed, and it's a thoroughly enjoyable one.

At least I've got a huge pile of games sitting there to play to dull the 'ho-crap-no-more-XIII' feeling and to stall all productivity, but wow. What a ride.

EDIT: Forgot to add, sans the 'put on my makeup', Leona Lewis' 'My Hands' fits the game perfectly, especially the last scene. It's still a bit sad that it wasn't originally composed for XIII, but I wonder if someone was listening to Lewis' CD and went WOAHMAMMA. Reaaaaaaallly looking forward to the English version, whee!

DOUBLE ETA: Some how I managed to not get spoiled on the story - despite the fact I was looking up the odd boss walkthrough and weapons guides - and I have to recommend that you don't, either! The game packs a full solid punches, and it's worth experiencing it rather than reading it on a message board. It's actually worth it!

Back from beach. Got sunburnt shoulders for the first time in years. Have far too European skin to be living in Australia, it's utterly illogical, my genes are calling!

Ow.

Premature Christmas tonight before Sister is off to America for a bit - this will hopefully mean eventual trips to Disneyland! BRING IT.

ANYWHO:

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2009/12/god-of-war-ultimate-trilogy-edition-coming-to-australia/#more-371254

WE GET PANDORA'S BOX. AND THE GOWI/II COLLECTION FOR PS3. WEEEEEEEEEE.

AM OFF TO BE SALTY AND SUNBURNT.

(Apparently FFVIII and Vagrant Story are going to be on the PSN? Been dying to play Vagrant Story for ages!)

Quickie, off to the beach today with the family:

Yoinked from Facebook, because I’m too lazy to write it again, and really, no more needs to be said –

[9tails] doesn't really think even a good night of sleep can make Avatar's story more appealing! (Pros: Impressive motion capture acting-wise, gorgeous world. Cons: Na'vi's design never quite made it out of Uncanny Valley territory, predictable story.) How the heck are these people allowed to make incredibly expensive films without giving the script at least one check over first?

[9tails] has unfortunately not reached jollyness over Avatar's story overnight, but will fully admit that the world it is beautiful-beautiful-beautiful! I'd also forgotten that Reuben Langdon (DMC's Dante, RE5, Street Fighter, etc) had done extra/fight work on it - which is a prime example of what's wrong with the film industry today! Oh, yes, let’s make the experienced mo-cap actor an extra, that’s a great idea!

Seriously, people. I’m not joking, and I’m not that picky about silly films. (I liked TF2, after all!) It almost makes the writing in TF2, Twilight, Spiderman 3 look like an original work of genius, it’s so clichéd and just… wow. I can’t believe James Cameron’s name is on this! People were albeit loving the movie, but laughing at bits where you weren’t supposed to be laughing. But it is beautiful, the creatures are superb, it’s the best motion capture yet (although I never entirely got used to the Uncanny Valley Na’vi designs, but it was much easier to take when they were acting at you).

It was so beautiful, but I’m still a bit let down – everything I was worried about with the film pretty much came to pass, which is pretty pathetic from James Cameron! (I adore Terminator 2 and Aliens, and I do genuinely like Titanic.) I was so excited, too. Phooey. It's even sadder that he knows the script is rubbish and a knock-off, but... WHY, CAMERON, WHY.

ONE WHOLE WEEK UNTIL I GET FFXIII. I’M NOT PATIENT BY NATURE. ARRRRGHHH. Why did I think it would be a good idea to do a self-imposed ban until Christmas day, why.

RIP Roy Disney - thanks so much for your support of classical animation and good ol’ fashioned storytelling! You will be greatly missed!

Seriously. I got a little teary when I found out. What.

SUCH A QUICK ONE, AM ACTUALLY QUITE BUSY. (Tea breaks were made for site info jumping, ahoy!)

Zack in BBS - unless its a damn good forge, but, could be - http://forums.khinsider.com/future-kingdom-hearts/139707-new-scan-olympus-coliseum-ff-character-bbs.html For someone who ain't a main character, the son of a gun gets around. I laughed at him and his costume, so no wonder Aerith spends KH trying to do Cloud.

I adore FFVII, I really do, and I'm sure he's important to the Sephiroth/Cloud/Aerith plot, BUT JEEZE, THERE ARE OTHER FINAL FANTASY CHARACTERS. Twelve other games worth, in fact! 50% of me says, 'Yay, Zack!', and the other fifty percent goes, 'OH-MY-GOD, HE JUST HAD A GAME, GIVE US ANOTHER DAMN CHARACTER.'

Fifteen days 'till FFXIII, wahoo!

WARNING. THEE WHO PASS HERE MUST NOT FEAR THE LACK OF GRAMMAR OR LOGIC. THE FOLLOWING IS PURE CAPSLOCK EXCITEMENT. MY APOLOGIES. Any decent sentence patterns have been thrown out the window, to be replaced by magnificent excitement.

Final FFXIII trailer. If you haven't seen it yet and don't want to be spoiled, don't read the following!

HOLY. SHIT.

FANG. FANG. LIGHTNING ISN'T JUST GORGEOUSLY BAD-ARSE, SHE HAS A PERSONALITY - AND SHE'S NOT A CLOUD CLONE AT ALL. FANG. BAHAMUT. FANG/LIGHTNING SUMMONING BAHAMUT IN MID AIR. AND THEN. THE BIT AT THE END. MICHAEL BAY WOULD BE SO FREAKIN' PROUD. IT LITERALLY LOOKED LIKE A SCENE OUT OF TRANSFORMERS. THE EIDOLON GROUP SMACKDOWN ALONGSIDE THEIR HUMAN BUDDIES. HOLY SHIT. (I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT VANILLE'S SUMMON/EIDOLON THING IS EITHER, BUT BAD ARSE - LEVIATHAN? FENRIR? ...TITAN?! Looked like she nabbed Paine's Uber Dressphere from X-2 - WHICH IS AWESOME. GIVE THE SCARY GUN THING TO THE CUTEST GIRL EVER, GO SQUARE!) FANG. FANG. I LOVE THE EIDOLONS, I LOVE THEM EVER SO MUCH. NOT TO MENTION THE ENVIRONMENTS. DID I MENTION I'M IMPRESSED?

It's so nice to, you know, be proud of the female characters. I mean, I love Yuna/X/X-2 ladies to bits, along with Ashe/Fran, and heck, Yuffie especially, with an affection for Aerith/Tifa just 'cause it's VII - but to be really proud and pleased? Lightning/Fang/Vanille (gal's got a dark side, I'm loving it) all seem to be beautifully rounded characters, with strengths and weakness. I'm still a bit wary of Serah, and I adored Jihl on sight (hopefully we'll see more of what makes her tick)! Just. Wow. Took you long enough Square, but thank you.

And Cid's a pretty boy - I recognise his voice, but I'm not sure who it is - reminded me a bit of Tseng's, but I'm not sure. Terra? It's someone who's definitely done Square work somewhere! (He's possibly a l'cie, too?) With a pretty boy friend/subordinate. Oi-vey. WANT MORE LADIES, LESS PRETTY BOYS. WHERE'S JIHL?

GGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOD, I'M SO IMPRESSED.

WOW.

WOW.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.

FANG.

I STILL SHIP LIGHTNING/SNOW, I DON'T CARE. WHAT A GORGEOUS SCENE. OR LIGHTNING/FANG. LIGHTNING/JIHL. LIGHTNING/ODIN. I DON'T CAREEEEEEEEEEEE.

I'M STARTING TO GET WORRIED THAT THIS WILL TOP VII AS MY FAVOURITE. (AND THEN XII WILL FEEL UNLOVED AS THIRD. AND POOR X.)

HOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYSHIT.

Very. Very. Impressed.

...definitely importing. Damnit. Between this and Bayonetta in the New Year, so that means PS3 for Christmas. (Well, me paying for a PS3 for Christmas, I'm not that cruel to my mum and dad!)

STILL.

FREAKIN'.

SHIT.

I think that's the best CGI combo animation/motion capture/model-work ever. (I'm still traumatized from Assassin's Creed II/Uncharted 2/Batman/etc, not to mention icky ol' Avatar.) WOW. WOW. WOW. WILL SAY INTELLIGENT THINGS LATER, BUT, WOW.

STILL IN SHOCK.

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I have a 400mb file of the older 7 minute trailer, that I've been going through and studying frame by frame... WANT. HUGE. TRAILER FILE. NOW.

ETA: I am a Bad Person, and am not particularily a huge fan of the main Japanese song (whilst it is growing on me... well, the orchestral parts, anyway), but yowza, Leona Lewis' 'My Hands' should sound suitably epic alongside these visuals - I'm assuming they'll be whoring it out all over the television stations when the dub is out in March. (I didn't like Lewis at all until I heard said song, so I'm not a biased fan of hers, or anything!)

ETA 2: Not the best quality in comparison to the offical site's trailer, but for those too lazy to look it up, or for those who are just curious (AND YOU SHOULD BE, THE GRAPHICS ARE INSANE) -

Pre-birthday festivities went as follows:

1. There are few such joys in the world than having the opportunity to get up close and personal with a cup. This is completely different from the terrifying internet phenomenon – ‘Two Girls and A Cup’, thank you, Family Guy. Trying to do said correct chain of events for an up-close-'n-personal bonding time with a cup or two was surprisingly difficult. I have never seen such convoluted instructions for basically peeing into plastic in my life. Have never felt so silly, either, so I hope kidney specialist bloke is smug with himself.

2. Blood test fun! Had an amazing, amazing blood-taking woman, she did a brilliant job, arm felt pretty good - until I crashed into a girl an hour later in the shopping centre. Ow. Ow. Ow. (Apparently I'm also getting allergic to the tape they use. Not the greatest of looks. Thankfully not as bad as Kes, though, that’d be an owie and a half.)

3. Spent an hour at MBF sorting out various health plans - had the nicest bloke ever. Not to mention I got two movie tickets and the family got free cups of coffee!

4. Was a right dofus and forgot that lifting is A Bad Idea - the realisation followed after hefting an $80 Disney storyboard book off the shelves in a fit of excitement. D'oh.

5. Finally deciding after months of deliberation, that'd I'd finally cave in and grab a figurine from Gametraders - only to discover they're doing renovations and aren’t open. The only thing to do was laugh, with a touch of hysteria.

6. I was minding my own business and having a nice book read in the backyard with the dog, only to hear a thump and a crack. I turned a few inches to my left, only to see where the giant, heavy wooden sun-umbrella sat that would have come down on my head.

7. ...was quite glad I paid extra for that uber hospital MBF cover.

8. ...even happier I didn't have to use it.

9. I don't think my hair will survive until Friday's haircut - I literally can not see. I'm the hottest sheep-dog-woman ever. (I was technically preemptive about this, and tried to book an appointment three weeks ago, but my hairdresser was on vacation. Thunk.) Have decided for a change of pace, and might get a fancy-pants side fringe - which means I need my eyebrows done. Megan Fox eyebrows, here I come! Why can't one walk into a shop and get Megan Fox cleavage, too? I mean. God. It's be awesome. Walking out of a shop with Megan Fox herself would be quite terrifying, but at least she’d play video games with me.

This post probably sounds silly and whiny, but I've actually had a very lovely - albiet hilariously odd - day! I'm quite terrified to what the night will bring. Might wrap myself in bubble wrap to be safe.

ETA: Whilst watching the new GoWIII demo whilst smoothie suckling, a reaction to Kratos disembowling a demon should not be a weirdly affectionate 'oh, Kratos', as if he's your drunken, raging half-uncle who is stomping on a puppy. But you love him anyway. Hell, Kratos has killed puppies.

...ZEUS.

ETA: Helios, no one likes you because you're a dick. That's why Kratos is doing terrible things to your head.

...you ever get the feeling that this game is going to get refused classification in Australia? Might have to import, regardless. Stupid Australia.

Normally not up this late at night (proud to say, but quite confusing to still be here)! I went dog walking with parents earlier, and got my right foot caught in pothole, which meant I went down in a particularly undignified heap - not a big deal in the scheme of things, obviously, but not great with shot fibro nerves! - and hurt my foot/knee/hip, but sadly landed on the ol' drawing wrist. All of this was made infinitely more embarrassing when a young bloke driving past bellowed out, 'Are you alright, lady?' Long of the short, had to wait for the wrist to settle down, so up a bit later to catch up on work.

I'm also really appalled that I'm thinking of getting Bayonetta, especially since I've done so much whining about it! It came out in Japan recently, and I was a bit curious: the game play looks phenomenal (GoW and DMC in a blender!), the characters are decidedly unique, Bayonetta has a bad-arse rival archetype character-thingy who looks brilliant, and quite frankly, it's a little bit hilarious. Not to mention ol' Nettie herself, who I genuinely like. The story looks like it has some potential, too, and the boss battles--! That being said, I'm still quite twitchy at the blatant cheesecake shots (how anyone finds it sexy over funny is beyond me), but apparently there is a trade-off. I guess that means I've sold myself out, goddamnit. But she's British and funny and can throw things x1000 her size through walls! VICTORY! Pity about the crappy PS3 port, but fingers crossed they'll be some improvement by a PAL release.

Somewhere, Germaine Greer is roaring - and then she's pulling out the game and having a ball, too.

Off to bed, tired as heck - fibro mattress hunting tomorrow, good times!

Oh, someone help me, I do declare I'm getting a touch of the vapors -

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/god-of-war-iii-ultimate-edition-and-pre-order-items-announced/

AND IT'S IN PANDORA'S BOX. RARGH. US ONLY MY ARSE, YOU WILL BE MINE, PRECIOUS.

----

Exclusive Collectibles
• High-End Sculpted Replica of Pandora’s Box
• Limited-Edition God of War Art Book featuring exclusive art, content and interviews

Exclusive Digital Content (Available via PlayStation Network voucher codes on day of launch)
• God of War Combat Arena containing an exclusive environment and seven challenges
• Premium Kratos Skin – Dominus
• God of War: Unearthing the Legend Franchise Documentary – a full-length movie documentary depicting the history of the God of War franchise
• God of War Trilogy Soundtrack – God of War, II, and III scores from the game (mp3 digital download).
• God of War: Blood and Metal EP – a heavy metal homage featuring original music inspired by God of War (mp3 digital download). Stacey's addition: This is bad.

---

The special edition of GoWII was superb because it had a fantastic, in depth view on how games are made - and how it most likely makes you hate your coworkers and how to die young, but if that was an A+, this one has to be an A+++!

Between God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, and The Last Guardian... argh, I'm so caving on the PS3 route. Shite.

In celebration thereof, the fantastic adventures of the mishead GOW theme - 'Hold Devil's Pot Of Tea.' (Involves references to Mulan, Buddha and Bruce Willis.)



All the cool kids know it. Why don't you?

...eh, bugger, back to work.

(Have stuck this here, 'cause I thought it might break her LJ otherwise! :D)

Happy Birthday, Kes! You’re now only a smidgen older, decidedly wiser, and terribly stressed out with university things! Um, I’ve drawn a few insulting face caricatures for people on their birthday this year, and instead of a normal caricature, your picture thing became a tad…. more… uh… emphasized?

How To Loose Friends On Their Birthday and then Alienate Them In General: draw ‘em as cleavage with eyes! Sung to Pinky and the Brain theme, quite obviously.



…I don’t know why my mouth is also my crotch line. I’m sure there is a metaphor there. I think we’d make a great crime-fighting team. She’d suffocate them, and I’d kick ‘em.

But, anyway, had a bit of spare time this morning in-between scene clean-ups/colouring, so I thought I’d do a weird birthday card thing with Kes’ Damned characters - Wally West, Raphael, Emma Frost and Braniac 5 doin’ weird things under the cut. And, yes, you will get a present too, woman - BUT YOU MUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT. I WILL SHAKE YOU SILLY, I SWEAR TO A FURRY GOD.



( Happy Birthday to You! )

Many happy returns, Kes – you’ve worked terribly hard this year and had a lot of changes, and I’m sure next year will be absolutely brilliant! (Although, I must admit, I’m a bit worried about you becoming a psychologist – from this post alone; I think there could be a severe psycho analysis into self-insecurity and cleavage size jealousy.) You’re an absolutely wonderful, funny, generous, sweet person, and I hope your birthday is as sweet as you are! I guess that means cake. Which is probably a lie. Zing.

Hey peeps, still in limbo, health still a bit terrible, and working arse off on friend's final film. (Repetitive fun, and I'm not actually being sarcastic!) Good and reasonably productive times! Am thoroughly delighted that I have been approved for a certain government health pension, which means I now have a brilliant debit card that I can use online, a fantastic Netbanking account which does everything (Netbank was invented by a very sweet and loving God, it's enough to make me turn from atheism), and I can start paying for my doctor/naturopath/health care/vitamins/superannuation/phone bill and can actually start saving money!

I'm feeling like very delighted, smug and remotely adult! (I also realised I was probably a slight fruitcake for being delighted at the prospect of paying bills, but bugger it, I am. The first time I paid my phone bill, I danced around the computer. Okay, so it was only ten dollars, but damnit, it was a bill.)

'n Final Fantasy XIII and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep looking amazing (it's a freakin' female character revolution, via la resistance!), but I can't think about them 'till the work is done! I also have art books I want to read. Books to devour. I wanna go swimming. I have the new Snow White DVD I want to watch - well, I lie, I had it on for two minutes whilst working, and decided I wanted ol' Snowy dead. Rargh. That voice. Hmm, I should be sketching people at parks! (I've been going through The Animation Podcast methodically whilst doing clean-up work, and the stupid buggers keep saying 'go out and draw', BUT I CAN'T.)

Despite an exhaustingly healthy diet (seriously, I'm eating some puffed brown rice, organic corn-stuffs and some weird shit called amaranth for cereal - this isn't people food!), I've discovered that I make the Best Freakin' Iced Coffee ever. Like. Wow. It makes the shop stuff taste like cat piss. Yes, it does indeed 'taste better than sex', MP, I guarantee it! (Grabbed a shop made ice coffee whilst in at uni the other day, and I'm still yet unconvinced that it wasn't cat piss with coffee added. That was also the day I thought, 'bugger it, no one will see me!', and I went in looking like a pile o' shite, and, of course, there was a class on whilst I was in the room, I ran into a rather attractive fellow who is Rather Attractive, ran into two teachers, was stuck in an elevator with ten film students, and ended up in the cafe in line with a bunch of design students, and spent the whole time mourning the fact that I hadn't at least straightened my hair. Bloody design students. Nobody likes you, and your perfect clothing before nine o'clock!)

At any rate, off to make a salad sandwich and go back to work. Mum, Dad, Aunt and Dog are at the beach. GUESS WHERE I WANT TO BE.

RE: the last post, and Operation Beautiful - before bed, I thought it might be a nice idea to leave little love notes for the Mum, the Dad and the Sister, as two out of the three have a stressful week ahead with work. I left a rolled up note in Mum's car keys, one in Dad's wallet, and another on my sister's laptop.

When I woke up this morning, I was thoroughly surprised to see that someone had snuck into my room and stuck on the back of an A4 piece of paper (someone had made the effort to grab a punched out sheet of animation paper that I have a pile of in the study, which made me laugh) with the words 'WE ALL LOVE YOU' in huge letters with a heart and all their names. And the dog's. And the scrub-turkeys'. Shutuptheyhavenamesandthey'rehellasmart. I'm so in love with one of the females, she's so beautiful, there aren't words!

Gawd. I love my family. I left it up on the wall because I may or may not have gotten a wee bit sooky over it.

Sister and I are prancing off off to see District 9 again today, which is lovely as even when she's up for work, she never has any free time. ('Lia, I'm so sorry again about the city-thing - as Sister's only free day was today, it meant I had to swap around all my bloodtests to tomorrow, which I can't put off 'cause of the kidney specialist next week. Would it be all right to have adventures next Mon/Tues? ♥) On a bonus vain note, she's getting a new universal-voltage GHD, I'm buying her old one at a hella discounted price. As my old Remmington is slowly killing my hair, SO EXCITED.

Anyway, peeps, have the loveliest of days. It is apparently freezing cold here after being boiling hot for the last couple o' days - my fingers are freakin' numb as I type this! I love Bris Vegas, but damn, do I hate the weather. The fibro hates the pressure change too, so I feel sore and batty. VICTORY.

ETA: OKAY. I LOVE LUSH. THEY ARE HILARIOUS PEOPLE. From the Oz site -->

Q What can I do to get my cellulite to disappear?
A. You can stop smoking and drinking and give up coffee. You can take up yoga and running marathons. You can also buy a Lush Into Thin Air Massage Bar and rub it all over your lumpy bits every morning. The essential oils in it may jolly well make a difference. You can buy a Buffy bar and scrub away all your dead skin cells. You can wash with Sandstone soap to smooth off your epidermis and stimulate your sluggish cells. Or you can stop caring.

Q What shall I send to say sorry?
A. There is a range of appropriate Lush gifts for conveying an apologetic sentiment to the recipient of your choice. The first question you have to answer is what exactly is it that you’ve done wrong? [Insert Product Placement.] I personally would need jewellery, flowers, chocolate and a very large bag of Bath Ballistics before I’d even consider taking you back, I mean forgiving you.

I think the Lush site Q&A is written by Portal's GLaDOS. This is what happened after the first game, she got a job at the Q&A section of the Lush website!

Q Which Lush products should I use to distract my boyfriend from Lara Croft?

Q I’m engaged. Is it still OK to ogle other men’s bottoms?
A. Yes.

I'm going to grab me some post-it notes and start doing this, because I think this is the loveliest thing I've heard in ages - http://operationbeautiful.com/. It's so quick and easy, and some of the stories of people finding/leaving notes just thaw my cold, dead heart.

One look in the newspaper or the news shows how revolting the world can be most days - it's comforting to know that there are lots of sweet, caring, happy people in the world fighting back! Maybe not fighting, making lotsa love and not war, instead!

I wish I wasn't off uni for six months - will have to do with leaving post-its all over toilets and shopping centers instead!

Go forth and spreadeth the post-it notes, my brethren! Remember, my silly ol' flist, you're all magnificently beautiful bundles of wonderment!

(On my next trip to Borders, I'm so raiding the health section and sticking post-it notes EVERYWHERE.)

At least Hitler and I agree on the state of James Cameron's Avatar:



I won't spoil too much... but... "Captain Planet with Cats". Really, that's all you need.

I have no idea what the heck Cameron thinking. A Christmas Carol looks less unnerving, and it made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck! A lot of people keep saying on internet talkbacks, 'oh, wait until you see the film, it's only the trailer'. I WON'T BE ABLE TO SIT THROUGH THE FILM TO SEE IF IT IS ANY GOOD, AS THE CAT+HORSE+DUCK PEOPLE MAKE MY SKELETON LONG TO CRAWL FORTH FROM MY FLESH, AND RUN AWAY SCREAMING.

District 9 Aliens For The Win.

Avatar Aliens For The Bin.

Digressing. I love this meme.

Speaking of repeated use of nazis, have gradually been going through the Indiana Jones films. (The first was mildly tolerable - I mean, I really enjoyed it, but was starting to get pretty annoyed by the end; the second one was so SILLY that by the half-way mark it was literally the Stupidest Thing I'd Ever Seen, Ever, Even Worse Than The Fourth Film, I Mean Wow, Talk About A Movie Of Thirty Endings, but I sort've enjoyed the first half anyway). I finally get to third one, which sorta felt like the Da Vinci Code meets James Bond in a desert and yes, I know Indiana Jones was made first, sheesh. At any rate, had very few problems with the third (except the leading lady, bring back the other two women, even Willie was better!), BUT, NO. I MUST HAVE TAPED IT JUST AS THE ADDITIONAL MOVIE CHANNEL RAN OUT ON FOXTEL, AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THE LAST TWENTY MINUTES OF THE MOVIE ENDS. I mean, I can guess, but. Crap. I was Not Happy, Jan.

Sean Connery was wasted on James Bond. He's hella funny, he should have just indulged in a career of comedy. There should have just been a series of Indiana Jones movies with DaddyandSon, running around 'n being snarky at each other.

It's funny, I always thought Indiana Jones would. You know. Be out in the rainforest more. Running around in temples. Stuff. Sigh. In love with him, anyway. Sort've want to be an archeologist, now. Well, more so than before. Or a Really Really Badarse Paleontologist, who fights crooks and saves the day.

If all else fails, it'd make a great sitcom.

Was having a nice mooch whilst watching The View, only to see that it was set at Disney this week. Or day. Or something. (May possibly have been a repeat, who knows?) Whoopi Goldberg was running about in the set/prop archives, and oh-my-word, when the camera finally landed on the prop books from Snow White, Cinderella and the huge-arse Sleeping Beauty book... I went weak at the knees! Even though I was sitting down. I will henceforth disown myself.

Apparently the newest Disney CEO, Robert Iger, had his very first crush on Davey Crockett. D'aw. You know you're such an Australian when you have to google the correct spelling of 'Crockett'. I remember the song, man, not how to spell it. Iger is vaguely hotsauce for a CEO, too, which will be endlessly disturbing. Anybody is better than Michael Eisner. Does he still chew the babies when he consumes them, or do you think he just swallows 'em whole?

To make matters rather sad, every audience member got a free one-year subscription to D23. (Which makes me think this must be a rerun, because the club has been around for awhile.) I wailed! The audience members would not appreciate the sheer, gratuitous awesomeness! It's $75 US for a one year subscription. I mean, really, people. Gawd, Disney, you have my soul already, what else do you want? Bodily fluids? First born? Snot babies? All can be arranged.

Also taped something on Oprah about a woman with a flesh eating skin something-or-another, so I like to think I will have something exciting to come home to. (Health still fluctuating a lot-lot-lot, so I'm off to the beach today to get some sun into me and some salt up the nose. Also, the furball likes the water, so we'll take him for a swim.)

-------

Leaving you with Penny Arcade's Dissidia gag - I'm ashamed to say that I may have done something similar with Japanese!Tidus. (It's odd - I wasn't so fond of Japanese!Firion, Japanese!Tidus and especially Japanese!Bartz, but I really like all their English voices! I adored Zidane desperately in the original, but Dub!Zidane gives me urges to kick him off cliffs. Ditto for The Emperor. Poor Terra didn't really get a win either way - I was watching the opening to VI on YouTube, and she looks so proud, and so beautiful and so strong. Bonkers, too, but that makes her more wonderful. What the heck did you do to her, Square? What's worse, you didn't even offer up Yuna, Ashe or Lightning for what you did the poor girl! Halp, I'm being repressed! /Python moment. I adore me some FF-ladies, please let them be representin'.) At any rate, Dub!Jecht will never NOT be awesome, by the by, as I didn't realise that he was also Grimlock and Agent Kay from the MIB: Animated Series. If I run around with Jecht screaming, "ME GRIMLOCK NEEDS TO INDULGE IN GRAMMATICAL OUTSOURCING", well, I cannot be blamed. Love you, Robosaur.

I tragically don't think I'll last out until next Thursday when it comes out here. Come on, EB, enable my geekery. The English localisation is brilliant! Kefka may have gotten funnier, Tidus' name for Firion was English-fied hilariously, and Sephiroth is apparently running off with a very infamous line of Cloud's, which made me laugh even harder. Oh, Square, continue forth to bringeth the LOLs. I hate writing 'lol'. Why did I just do that? Why, Square, why?

Digressing, PA comic: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/8/26/

ETA: If you haven't seen this 73 year old man's twitter (posted by his son), please do. It's far too funny for words. http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays

Dear Borders: whilst I appreciate your written rec of Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’, mentioning that it recommended is for an athiest ‘belief’ system DOES NOT FLY. S’not a belief for athiests, IT’S FACT. FOR EVERYONE. IT’S CALLED SCIENCE. EV-O-LUTION. GODDAMNIT. (Yes, the irony of my swearing is known, believe me.)

...that being said, I was oh-so-pleased it was only $13, 'cause I've been meaning to get meself a copy.

APPARENTLY NONE OF YOU BASTARDS TOOK MY NORMAN ROCKWELL BOOK. WAS APPEASED. Then I was sad, as I found 'The Art of Harvey Kurtzman', AND DO I LOOK LIKE I'M MADE OF MONEY? The book had a recommendation from Terry Gilliam and John K of Ren 'n Stimpy on the back. That's... pretty much all you want in a book rec, really.

Obviously went into the city today - Dad had two specialist appointments, poor sod, so I mucked around to my heart's content. HAVE CONQUERED THE CITY. Still can't find the big Mr Toys, where-in-the-name-of-fuck is the damn thing hiding? I could google it, but... lazy, really. I looked for it once before with the address, and I still couldn't find the damn thing. I'm convinced it is infact invisible unless you have the password.

BUT. WANTED TO GET MYSELF SOME LUSH, because I fully believe in spoiling my poor ol' sore body silly - and bloody hell, practically everything has Sodium Laureth Sulfate in it. Natural 'n organic my arse, Lush! I was so excited, too, phooey. There was this GORGEOUS glittery shower gel, but I just spent ages trying to get rid of the Sodium Laureth Sulfate crap from my shampoo/conditioner, I'm not going to rub it into my skin. Even to feel like a glittery sex kitten. Wail. (95% of shampoos 'n conditioners on the market have that shit in it, I swear to god, even if you're buying the incredibly expensive stuff. Am Not Happy, Jan.)

At any rate, as my rotten body is want to do, after two hours came home and had a three hour nap. Oh, CFS, let me count the ways that I loathe thee! Numero Uno... NAP. BAD. Numero Duo... fun health interviews tomorrow, oh can you hear the wonderous excitement in my typing! SEE. IT'S. LIKE. HERE. Numero Trio ----

ETA: MY NECK FEELS SUNBURNT.

OHWAIT.

Being paler than a glacier, and with enough European blood spewing forth through my veins to prevent me ever having a nice day at the beach, ever, I PUT SUNSCREEN ON EVERYWHERE. I WALKED IN THE SHADE. I WORE AN ADORABLE, YET FASHIONABLE AND SAFE, LITTLE MINI WHITE COVERY THING ON MY SHOULDERS. THERE SHOULD BE NO SUNBURN.

OHWAIT.

I blame my Danish ancestors.

Bastards.

I can't even make a crack about there being 'a hole in a the dike/dyke', BECAUSE THERE AREN'T ANY IN DENMARK.

...are there?

Ignoring the obligatory lesbian joke, obviously. I'm convinced 'there's a hole in the dyke!' must be the bane of the poor gay community. I mean, really. After googling it, I still can't figure out if it is 'dyke' or 'dike' as either seem to be acceptable. THE WATER THING, NOT THE WOMEN.

Agh, JesusChristOnARedHotBoilingPogoStick.

Whilst munching on dinner last night, I was listening to the voice (well, myself, obviously) in my head prattling away at a million miles an hour - musing on video games, aren't I the exciting one - when quite clearly, a third voice broke in and said quite snappishly, "Shut up, I'm trying to think."

...unexpected.

Possibly understandable, as I spent the weekend doing health paperwork whilst being sore as hellsauce. Not that I filled in every page, BUT, I HAD TO READ 150 PAGES whilst cross-referencing from other pages. CRULETLY. And then with doctor’s certs and letters and applications--! The thing is over 230 thick. Was pretty bloody depressing, but had to be done.

But if it all ends up turning out for the best, I can’t possibly stress how much of a relief it’ll be, so fingers crossed!

...I'd like to ironically point out that the health forms are not because I have voices in my head, thank you you had a head in your head! /Transformers, but for CFS/Fibro fun times. The voices are a new revelation.

Thankfully, the third one hasn't come back, so I imagine it'll just stay Me and Myself. I is on vacation.

Gawd, Disney, the hatred I have for you.

OH. YES. LET US STICK THINGS IN THE VAULT. WHEN THEY COME OUT AGAIN, THEY WILL HAVE BACTERIAL GROWTH CALLED "MODERN MUSIC VIDEOS." ARE YOU NOT AWARE OF THE SACRILEGE? 'A Whole New World' sung by Jessica Simpson! 'I Wanna Be Like You' preformed by the Jonas Brothers! The *AMAZING* 'Cruella De Vil' sung by Selena Gomez? Walt Disney will return forth from his cryogenically hidden depths and Fuck Your Shit Up.

Digressing.

Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians came out recently on Platinum Editions (relatively recently), and I'm surprised how enamored I am with the first two, and the mild tolerance for the third. (I mean, I adore dogs, and I think the first twenty minutes of the fill is divine - Roger bellowing out the lyrics to 'Cruella De Vil' and blasting his trumpet while Satan Herself minces about downstairs is hilarious, and GAWD, the opening credits, and I have such a girly hard-on for the art direction! - but bloody hell, once the puppies arrive it isn't so enjoyable. Ironically.) Digressing, digressing - at any rate, we don't get another Platinum/Diamond Edition until November 2009. I DON'T EVEN LIKE SNOW WHITE (besides the Queen, oh-my-word ♥), AND I'M DYING TO GRUBBY IT WITH MY PAWS.

I didn't actually know the release dates until I googled it, so maybe someone will find it useful and feel my pain:

( DVD/BLU-RAY INFO. )

These better be awesome, Disney. Preferably released closer, or I will come to Disney and will pee mark my territory on somewhere out of the way so you won't know for weeks where, BUT YOU WILL KNOW I HAVE BEEN THERE.

...my word, I can't believe I just wrote that. Ah, well, if you can't amuse yourself.

Has anyone seen The Great Mouse Detective? Reccable? A lot of people seem quite fond of it, so I wonder if I should scrounge a copy up.

Hopefully health/uni-withdrawal will sort out soon, less I become an ex-parrot. Thankfully, I’m presently less stressed, ‘cause that’s pretty much the Worst Thing For Fibro In The History Of Fibro Ever.

Ah, well, Dissidia out at the end of the month, new season of Family Guy out after that, Up - lots of things to look forward to!

Oh, shriek, found a Norman Rockwell book at Borders. Was terribly delighted, and if anyone buys the other one before I have a chance to get back there, I will end you. Painfully. Does anyone know where the bloody hell Dymocks pissed off to? Is it still as big? I know they’ve moved – something about Edward St, joy, must now find Edward St – but they had the BEST selection of art books in Australia next to Kinokuniya. There was Art of the New Yorker there when I went a year ago, AND I HATE THAT I DIDN’T SELL MY KIDNEYS FOR IT.

Yes, in an economic crisis, I am indeed bartering with organs. Bring it.

( The Depressing Borders Onset of Manga, Anime and Puberty - aka, I'm Lacking In All Three. )

…now I’m depressed.

Am going to burying my sorrows with the mushrooms growing in the backyard. No, I’m not stupid enough to do that, in case someone was going to ask.

VIVA LA SNOT.

ETA: ( Cameron's Avatar - Whine or Fine? - Not Aang's Wang. )

I feel like the rest of the world is insane, and it is trying to invite me over for its randy, upsidedown threesomes with a spatula, and no one else can understand WHY I DON'T WANT TO GO.

ETA_2: I just sneezed so hard that my thong flew off and slammed into the computer desk. It was awesome.

ETA_3: I just thought I should clarify - foot thong, not underwear thong. I just realised how utterly terrible that sounded. Any memories I have of underwear thongs are obscene and insane: how anyone can think a bit of string seperate buttocks is classed under things Relatively Sexy is beyond me. It's like Moses parting the red seas. With string.

...was watching Prince of Egypt earlier, which explains that odd reference.

Well... fuck me, really.

Copied and pasted from Facebook again - which I don't normally do, I can't believe it's happened two posts in a row, but I can't engage my brain again:

[Stacey] can't believe the insane level of brilliance than "District 9" was. One of the most original, fascinating films to come out in years - amazing social commentary - especially recommended for those who *DON'T* like science fiction/alien films. Best film of the year, hands down. Hell, best... film for a couple of years, and probably a couple to come!

I laughed, I just about bawled, had about thirty-plus heart-attacks, and just about crawled off my seat.

I was musing what films that had come out in the last couple of years that could stand up to it genre/commentary/etc and I love me some ROTF like woah, but I'm not silly enough to say it is one of the best films I've ever seen! and it beats the big money hitter, The Dark Knight, hands down. (In my oh-so bossy opinion. XD)

I'm so sorry, James Cameron, but I don't think Avatar has a chance in hell.

God.

Wow.

Coraline was also WONDERFUL - beyond highly recommended in 3D. I feel so spoilt.

If you excuse me, I'm going to grow my heart and brain back, because both of them broke with this film!

People are talking about 'does it need a sequel?' and really, the only reply to that is a giant raspberry. Snort. Speaking of films that don't need sequels, poor Donnie Darko.

My snot babies are binned. <-SAD.

SO EXCITED. Lilo and Stitch world is going to be in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep! SHRIEK. I mean, between this, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White, I'm so deliriously dorky for this game! I mean, The Queen, Maleficent and Lady Tremaine are the three most bad-arse female villians ever! I adore Yzma and Ursula like woah, but they're a little on the silly side in comparison. Yzma, my heart will always beat for you! After watching Sleeping Beauty, I've decided that, at Evil Bad Guys Anoymous meetings that occur in the Kingdom Hearts world, Sephiroth and Maleficent are SO doing it. Evil has never looked so good! And because it has Radiant Garden, please to be telling me Square what the hella deal is with Sephiroth 'n Cloud? BEFORE WE'RE OLD.

Dub!Dissidia is out at the end of the month, dorikly excited for that too and the added NPCs, cutscenes, etc... damnit, Square, to take more money from me than the Government.

Currenly playing FFXII again in downtime with the ol' rib and fibro, and MAN, do I adore that game.

BACK TO YOUR DAILY SCHEDULED DORK PROGRAMMING.