Holiday time

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

 

photo found here

Monday's recommendation

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

I wish I could just say that I read this book in one day without putting it down one second and am now ravenously flipping through the second book. But that wouldn't be doing it justice.
This book tells the story of Katniss Everdeen, a young girl who lives in District 12 of Panem, a land that used to called North America. Panem is separated into twelve districts and the main city the Capitol. The Capitol, to better exact their power over them, has each district take part in the Hunger Games a battle to the death in which one girl and one boy from each district must take part.
The older a child gets the more chance they have of being sent to the Hunger Games, for Katniss the odds are high but it is her sister's first year.
Katniss's fear is dispelled when she hears her little sister's name get called. It is her love for her sister that pushes her to take her place in the Hunger Games.

Versatile Blogger

 

I've been honored by Rain at Iridescent Rain  with the the Versatile Blogger award and I can't thank you enough Rain! I think this big guy (note: I'm talking about the award) is making a tour of the lovelies that get posted on the Writing on Wednesday prompt at Ink Paper Pen, which I can't agree with more. Such a great group with great energy! I get inspired just by reading one or two so imagine a dozen!

The award rules go like this: I must thank the person who nominated me, let my fellow bloggers know seven things about me, and pass the award on to fifteen newly discovered bloggers and let them know.

Alright so seven things about me.... I'm pretty sure I've said mostly everything about myself on this blog but I'll try to find things I haven't:


I/ All in all I own just about 23 animals. 3 dogs, 2 cats, 6 fish (I believe), 7 birds, 5 horses. Man that sounds like a lot when I write it down. I would go through a list of all their breeds but I think we'll all fall asleep on that one.

II/ When I have a nightmare I have to check that nasty peephole every time I walk by it because the nightmare won't go away for at least a week.

III/ I was once robbed while still in the house, they smashed into the house and started screaming at my mother, my brother and me for money and such things. This happened on Halloween night so to this day I'm still not OK with falling asleep on Halloween.

IV/ I'm an absolute Trekkie. Or just about anything space-like on TV. Star Trek (every single series), Stargate (same comment about the series), Firefly (Joss Whedon could never be wrong about anything), Babylon 5 (unbelievably well structured story with great actors) and so on and so forth.

V/ Food is my way of life. I think of countries by the food I can eat there. Since I've been in Canada, I have constantly been switching between the Space channel and the Food Network (with a little bit of Disney on the side).

VI/ Hmmmmmm.... This is getting difficult. Babies and children love me (which can be a curse) because I am essentially still a child and unlike most 'grown-ups' I will play all their games with them and make up ridiculous stories with funny accents for the characters.
Note: this may lead to parents abandoning their children with you to get some peace and quiet and then you getting no work done whatsoever or
The child never leaving you alone and following you with big round eyes asking to play, same conclusion.

VII/ When I reread my own work (the book I am finishing up) I tend to get lost in my own story and start reading it instead of trying to find things to be fixed. And I absolutely love that.
Loving your own work is one of the most important things about writing, if you love it nothing else matters.

Recommend fifteen blogs! My gosh! Maybe I should add to my above list that I tend to be a very boring, stick with what I know person, it's sometimes perceived as loyalty but I tend to lean more towards simpleness. I don't think I'll reach fifteen but I'll try.


Am I allowed to pick the same person as rain did before me? Ah well I'll do it anyway because this person deserves repetitive honors.
1) Gill and InkPaperPen. Her Write on Wednesday prompts are simply fantastic and I can't stress enough how much I enjoy having people to share writing with and writing to enjoy whenever I sit down for some comfortable alone time.
2) Sheri Bomb this gal is just great. Her blog is like a blast from the past in her Rockabilly style while still staying rooted in the present. A girl with heart and loads of it.
3) Sarah Mac over at People Don't Eat Enough Fudge (I should probably caps lock all of that but Caps locks make me feel like I'm screaming, don't blame me alright Miss Mac?), who recently added a great post about accepting who you are. I can tell you one thing, she has nothing to worry about.
4) Kimberlee at Scraps & Sass who breezes through prompts from many different blogs effortlessly and, need I even say it, successfully.
5) I realize I'm doing a full circle by nominating this darling but I really do love her blog and I don't think she'll have to do a repeat of her seven things and another 15 blogs, if she does I release her of that duty for repetitions sake.
Lillie McFerrin at Lillie McFerrin Writes I was mostly reading her WoW prompts but have recently figured out she has prompts of her own. You never cease to amaze.
6) This blog is great but I'm pretty sure they have moved, the link is in their last post though.
The Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Association by the Watson Sisters.

I'm so sorry I don't have any other ones. In my defense I've been settling in and starting school and haven't had enough time to properly enjoy all the WoW and search around the blog.
Sorry again lovely writers that I still need to discover!

Team Building in Class

Sigh. I have just started at the VFS and of course we have a team building class so we know how to work with a team. Kind of redundant since I think everyone in our class has worked with a group... Or maybe one hasn't but he has been in a pretty good team of hokey players. Ah well. This in itself is not a bad thing but unfortunately one of the exercises was delivering bad information by delivering two good things with it.
You do this because people need to have more good to negate one bad comment. I guess that's a good idea but personally I don't like receiving any bad comments on things I haven't asked someone's opinion on. I don't deal with that kind of stuff very well. I went with it because, hey, it's team building class! But then of course the person I was paired with wasn't really sure what to say and I don't like saying anything bad to people so in the end he just said something I was wearing did not look good on me and apparently was having trouble finding anything good.
Suffice it to say. I did not feel good after receiving one bad comment and no others...

I just have to say I have never been in a position in a professional working position where someone will be faced with the need to tell you you look bad. Silly silly team building class. You are now at the bottom of my classes list.

I'm sorry if this has very closely resembled a rant. It's probably because it is one. I apologize for my negativeness... Nothing much goes on in my life.

Food, food, glorious food

Finally cooked a real meal for the first time in my Canadian kitchen! Alright it was a super simple spaghetti bolognese but whatever, it's the action that counts.
Why haven't I cooked here yet you ask? Well there were almost no kitchen tools, so I was missing almost everything to cook properly (and am still missing quite a bit). I bought a few things, not enough to have a fully running kitchen, but enough to have a decent meal. So..... Yay!!!


The other thing that was bothering me a bit is the stove.

Yes I am not used to gas stoves. I used to have them when I was younger and I did like them but I don't like the smell of the gas, I mean gas leaks are not something to laugh about. Yes paranoia, well I'll still cook on them so not reaaally paranoia, but I was reluctant at the beginning. It's also a lot warmer but that doesn't really bother me in Vancouver.
I miss you home stove.

NOTE: this isn't my home stove just some google one, I don't actually go around and take pictures of my stoves....

Monday's recommendation

Howl's Moving Castle
by Diana Wynne Jones

So you may know the fantastic Hayao Miyazaki and the movies he has made. I think I might have mentioned some, unless I haven't in which case I must make a list of those for all of you. They are fabulous and must be seen.
Well *segue* Hayao Miyazaki based lots of his movies and stories by Diana Wynne Jones. One of the latest movies, actually the latest movie he made before Ponyo, was Howl's Moving Castle (same title).
The story is the same, just about, as the movie except that the animated movie is in a world of its own while the novel links up with our world and connects us even more to the story (and the possibility that we could venture into that world).
We follow a young hero, Sophie Hatter, who works at her family hat shop and is very talented with a needle. As she works alone a lot of the time she talks to her creations and unknowingly talks life into them. Everything in her life is rather dull and repetitive until the Witch of Waste, unsatisfied with her hats, turns her into an old lady. It is after this unfortunate event that she becomes the cleaning lady of the infamous Howl, known for eating the hearts out of young girls. But he is also known because of his powerful magic, exactly what Sophie needs to return to her original form.

If you take the time to read this lovely story you would definitely enjoy the movie.

Gastown Tattoo Parlour

With my birthday coming up soon I decided to treat myself to a new tattoo. I've been drawing up a design for a while and all I had to do was find a good tattoo place. Being quite obsessed with steampunk and anything that resembles it so I was pretty interested in the Gastown area of Vancouver.
That was how I found Gastown Tattoo online, linked here.

 

Just love the 'Tipping makes it hurt less' sign. 

I went the day before yesterday and got this here beauty for 100$.

It's the planetary alignment of my birthday, that I gave my own personal flair to.
My artist was Arlin ffrench.

I love the Fall

I already love Vancouver thanks to all the beautiful fall colors that I can't fully appreciate in France.

Just because you should know

Just bask in the cuteness for a couple minutes.

Did you know that sea otters hold hands when they sleep so as to avoid drifting away from each other? Yeah. That's pretty damned adorable.

Somethingt to live by

This was on Design is mine today and I really think it's something everyone should live by, so here you go.

This is very true especially in my line of work (Sound Design and Video Editing) you really have to work hard on a lot of different things to catch a break and land a big role. But I'm pretty sure you have that in all jobs.

My Dad always told me that you can only get one or two life-changing chances in a single lifetime and you have to take it, even if you have to work ten times harder once you've taken that chance, so don't be afraid and jump!

Something pretty to look at

Voila a beautiful blog that I really enjoy, it's called 'The complete truth"

Here's an example, all the rights belong to the creator of the blog.

Monday's recommendation

A Game of Thrones
by George R. R. Martin

I actually read this one a while ago but re-read it before watching the TV show.
This is a fantastic book, as many people will say.
The story follows the Stark family. Eddard Stark the head of the family, his wife Catelyn Stark and their children. The main character of which are Sansa, the eldest daughter, Arya the second daughter, Bran the second to youngest son and Jon Snow, called that way because he is Eddard's bastard son.

The two other main viewpoint character are Daenerys Targaryen  who comes from the original royal line kicked off of the throne when the 'mad king' was dethroned by Eddard Starks friend, Robert Baratheon.
And Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf brother of queen Cersei and her twin Jaime. His house being famous for their wealth and scheming.

The story starts North of the wall where we discover that there are very strange things going on in the North. We discover the Stark family and the creatures of the North as all the children of the Stark family adopt pups from a dead Direwolf, even an albino wolf for Jon Snow.
We follow the lives of the different characters as we meet them and discover plots and schemes throughout the Kingdom as the Starks try to set things straight and protect their families honor.
On the opposite side of the world we discover the wild tribes where Daenerys lives in exile with her brother, another crazed Taragaryen who believes himself to be the last living dragon (their house is famous for being that of the dragons symbol, the Starks are the wold and the Lannisters the lion... I think). She learns of her origins and discovers that she is more than her brother will ever be.

I should probably not name favorites but Jon Snow is my favorite of the characters. Having said that, this story is one of the great examples of how good writing can make multiple storylines work.

I also want to recommend the TV series that in my opinion is extremely good for a series based on a book. Although it does shorten the story quite a bit and leave out a couple of things (or change a few things that bothered me a tiny bit) it does get to the basics of the story and the actors are very well chosen.

Write on Wednesday: 6

The Write On Wednesday Rules: Get creative with the writing exercises - there isn't a right or wrong. Please do try to visit the other members of Write On Wednesdays and leave a comment of support and constructive criticism. 

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 19 - Sunshine in a cup. Write the words of Emily Dickinson: "Bring me sunshine in a cup" at the top of your page. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write the first words that come into your head after the prompt. Don't take you pen off the page (or fingers off the keyboard). Stop only when the buzzer rings! Do this exercise over and over if you wish. Write beyond 5 minutes if you like, you can link it up as an extra post.

I'm not sure what exactly it is about the sentence "Bring me sunshine in a cup" that I have never liked but I'll make sure that doesn't affect this piece.


Her hands scraped against the rocks that littered the dirt floor as she desperately searched for the torch. She could see them now, when there was no light to keep her safe, their bright eyes shining in the pitch black that surrounded her. But even as their eyes were bright for her to see, they did not light up the path. They were a void even in the darkness, they stole the essence of the cave in those bright empty eyes and if she did not find the torch soon they would steal hers too.
She had to calm down, they would only attack if they felt that she was faltering. She knew her fear was already reaching them. Her hands stopped moving, she was already dead.

"Girl." came a whisper from ahead.

In a flash the thousands of eyes vanished and before her stood the man from before. In his hand was a small bowl, a bowl from which light was spilling onto the floor. It was no flame. It was like no light she had ever seen. It spilled over the rims of the bowl and poured across the floor to were she was crouching, like a warm mist.

Guess what?

Iphone 4S!!! YAY!

I've been playing with Siri since I got it! It's a brilliant system. The best thing of all though:

When you say Thank you the Siri lady says "I aim to please."

Seriously a geeks favorite day!

Open House

I had the greatest time at the Open House yesterday. I met some interesting people, although they were not enrolled in the program yet and I'm not sure if they are going to since they are more interested in music than Sound Design for movies and games, but it was still nice meeting them.

I think the most entertaining thing about it was when we got there and walked up to the Sound Design section, which was next to the Game Design section, the Game section people asked us what we were there for. We answered Sound Design and the teachers and older students at the Sound Design section exclaimed "Girls?!" and ran over to us. Suffice it to say I think the fact that I'm a tomboy will be useful in the next year at VFS.

PS to Urgh

Are you as excited as I am about this?

UUURGH

I know that the deadline for all these movies in Friday so I am finally going to have all these directors off my back but.... I have been working non-stop with only small breaks to go to open bank accounts and buy an adapter (to be able to do more work). I might pass out from the work load.
And I'm starting to not appreciate all these movies anymore.

But ah well, the time of release is almost near! 
Couldn't be more excited about the Open House at my school tomorrow. Mostly because it means I have a good reason for leaving this apartment. But the more I look at the information about it, the more excited I get. Don't you love that feeling when you go to a new school? The apprehension, the excitement and all that. If you're in Vancouver and want to look around at a a film school it's open, go here to sign in.

Alright back to the work I go.

Monday's recommendation

So I don't know any Thanksgiving books. I don't even know that there are any with that specific theme that aren't children's books. And by children's books I mean the ones that teach you what a word means as you read. So instead I'll just recommend this book because the colors and theme make me think of the Fall.

Fahrenheit 451
by Ray Bradbury

This isn't the cover of my book but I don't have it with me and even then I don't have a scanner. Sigh. The other cover is that of a man's face and flames next to it (this image being from Google).


Fahrenheit 451 is the exact temperature at which a book catches fire.
This story follows a firefighter living in a future society but in this future firefighters don't put out fires, in fact they do quite the opposite. Guy Montag is in charge, with his colleagues, of burning books.
In this dystopian novel created by Bradbury books are illegal for the ideas they plant in peoples heads. Everything changes for Montag however, when a young girl moves into the house next to him.


This is a very short story so I can't say any more, only to read it and discover Bradbury's world and the power of the books.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!!!

image from Google

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Just a happy message to all the Canadians whom I know share a country with.

Write on Wednesday: 5

The Write On Wednesday Rules: Get creative with the writing exercises - there isn't a right or wrong. Please do try to visit the other members of Write On Wednesdays and leave a comment of support and constructive criticism. 

Write On Wednesdays Exercise 18 - Look through your previous WoW posts (or select a short writing piece that you would like to work on). Read through your piece carefully and let's attempt to make it better. Look for redundant words, cliches or overused phrases. Chop and change. This is not an exercise in word count, it's not about simply whittling it down. Make it a better piece of writing. Post your original and edited piece. THEN, throw it to the*wolves. Ask for advice from WoWers. With  help you can make your writing shine. 

 So I missed out on last the last WoW unfortunately, I was moving countries and I find that that is a good enough reason. 
I haven't been doing WoW for very long so I don't have that many works to change but I do know that the last work I did was way too long to I decided to shorten that darling. I'm not going to post it on this same space just because it's so long but I will link it.

Here is the original piece. The rules to the exercise are there too. 






So I worked with the song Resistance by Muse, here is my new and improved version:




The rain was pouring down hard. She could barely see anything anymore. She was cold and tired. All she had been doing was running hard. The rain was beating on her back and spraying into her eyes as it splashed against the sodden floor. She struggled to control her breath -hanging like a cloud in the cold air- as she pushed her way up the small hill. She slipped but stopped midway before striking the floor, his hand held her up. He was always there to hold her up. He knew as well as her that they needed to stop.
"There's a cave up there." he breathed.
The cave was dark but dry. She had lived through much worse and she could only be thankful that wherever she was now, it wasn't there. There was the promise of something better now. She looked up at him. His eyes were on her face. Like they had always been and they would always be. There was the love there she felt whenever she was near him and this was only the beginning of that love. He had whispered his fears to her, his fears of losing her. 
The tears poured down her cheeks as she lost herself in his embrace, knowing that he already had.








So this is a very, very shortened version and I realize it is a big cut but I wanted to get closer to the original length that was asked for. I hope this doesn't deviate to much from what the exercise asks.

Huh?

Just because I really need to ask someone.

Do you understand what is going on in this image? I keep staring at it and I just... don't.... understand.

This is from one of the blogs I follow and adore, Design is mine.

Death by work

It is 9:55 AM and I am already overworked. That can't be normal. By the way if you want to become an editor or anything in the film business, don't go overseas when you are at the end of a couple of projects. Alright so I'm overseas for school and it's kind of the director's and people-who-bailed-in-them's fault that there is extra fault, but I'm not going to bail on people in need so now I'm overworked.
Pfiuuuuuu...
Alright so I guess that could be called a rant. But that is what happens to people who are working too much.

I guess there is something good in all of this. If you are looking to transfer files or store them on internet here are a couple site that can help you:

wetransfer.com
dropbox.com
megaupload.com

Hope this helps anyone else that is having problems.

Walking in Vancouver

I went on a trek today, all the way to RBC bank to then find out they had no place for me. Sad, sad day. But I have an appointment for Tuesday! Yay! I'll have money! Or at least I'll be able to spend money without worrying about exchange rates and all that jazz.

On the way back to my apartment from the bank I decided to be a big, fat pig and go to McDonald's and I noticed something brilliant!

This is the Canadian McDonald's logo. Notice anything? Yes. There is a Maple Leaf in the middle of the M. Yes. Canadian M. It's pretty damn fantastic.

It makes me want to eat McDonald's in the fall.

Arrived!

I've finally settled in and have internet in Vancouver! Yay! I can't wait to get the school started but I still have some other work and need to get all the bank and phone stuff arranged. Well to moments of boredom over here.

Had a great two flights over here and even my 5 hour layover was spent chatting with some Vancouver people. Great first impressions Vancouver!

I live in Yaletown.

Monday's recommendation

His Dark Materials Trilogy
by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass

 

As a first in a trilogy goes, this book sets up the scene perfectly. The interesting world Pullman created pulls us in almost immediately and gets us intrigued about the characters, their similarities and their differences with us.  This was the first book I read that was a little bit more difficult than the kids books I was reading at the time (yeah, it came out a while back), and I read it just about six times and wrote a children's book report about it. I brought it to school with me, yes, I was obsessed. And above all else I really wanted a daemon. 

We follow Lyra and her journeys as she discovers an artifact called the Golden Compass, supposedly extremely hard to read, but she is able to do it in almost minutes. It is on her fathers trails and with the evil Mrs. Coulter on her heels that she will discover more about her world than she ever could have imagined. In fact it isn't only her world that matters any more. 

(Vague I know but it is so good to discover the whole story on your own)

The Subtle Knife

 

An immediate follow up from the first book, best to buy the two together so you can get rid of that pesky middle man and just consider the both of them as one. This story continues on with Lyra and her new friend from somewhere completely different to her but not so different to us. 

The Amber Spyglass

 

Alright so I'm not going to ruin the ending because it is fantastic. Though I must warn you, this book reads itself under a blanket, preferably reading cocoa (or another warm drink that you enjoy) and perhaps a box of kleenex nearby if you are prone to cry at a book. 

(I know I can cry at mangas... Alright I cry whenever I read anything sad.)

Please enjoy this fabulous adventure!

Weekend but the work does not stop

Found this piece of gold on Google search for weekends + Garfield. 

Unfortunately I'm leaving so there is a lot to do and still quite a bit of work that will still be there even when I get to Vancouver. So it is with that information that I can honestly say:

I hope your weekends are all sunny and relaxing!!!!