No, I’m not talking about the disco group vs the rock band. I’ve been making great progress on a Quickie that I hope Ellora’s Cave will love–it’s certainly “out there”.

I’ll wait until it’s accepted to announce any story details, but the story recently went in a completely new direction. I was writing dialogue and the hero just suddenly dropped a bomb on the heroine, much to my own surprise (and delight). :D

It’s strange how I start writing a story and the end result becomes so much different from what I expected. I did have an end in mind, but now that ending seems inappropriate and not at all in line with the tone of the story and the personality of my characters. The proper ending was simply inevitable.

Some authors like to discuss their different writing styles, such as planning out every scene versus just flying by the seat of one’s pants, but of course, the creative process is different for everyone and might involve a spectrum of planning mixed with flat-out inspiration, especially if you’re writing a fantasy versus a police procedural, and even then, I’m sure plans change, that a moment of brilliant inspiration is later discarded.

But I’m sure most authors would agree that it’s not just about the story’s end result–the final draft they submit to their editors. It’s also about the journey: the deleted scenes, the plot shifts, the character rewrites. It’s so much fun!!!

Despicable Me is the latest G-rated, CG-animated offering for the amusement of audiences who are increasingly uninterested in live-action films with plenty of their own special effects and explosions, but with a serious lack of plot, dialogue, or even cohesiveness. Despicable Me is (surprisingly) brought to us by Universal Studios rather than Pixar, the CG animation giant that has so many memorable films under its belt. (Don’t worry, the review for its latest release, Toy Story 3, is below.)

The film’s star, #2 Super-villain Gru, is voiced by Steve Carrell. His arch-nemesis Vector, the #1 Super-villain, is voiced by Jason Segel. At the start of the film, a busload of tourists to the famous pyramids of Egypt discover that one of the pyramids was stolen and replaced by a inflatable rubber one. Gru, ever aspiring to be the best super-villain whose (literally) biggest steals are much less impressive than a whole pyramid, has a plan up his sleeve to steal the entire Moon! Gru and his scientist assistant, the geriatric Dr. Nefario (voiced by Russell Brand) are ready to attempt the biggest heist the world has ever seen–if only they could get the funding–and a shrink ray!

Enter the three girls from Miss Hattie’s Orphanage, whose door-to-door cookie-selling could be Gru’s ticket into Vector’s impenetrable lair, where the shrink ray lies. These heartbreaking cutie pies are voiced by Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher. The eldest girl is obviously the most responsible and also the most pessimistic. The middle child is eager to get into trouble, and the youngest is single-mindedly in love with unicorns. Other characters include Gru’s mother, voiced by Julie Andrews (double-take on that one!), and Will Arnett as the Super-villain bank CEO.

I found this film to be highly enjoyable, and since it’s longer than the typical G-rated, CG-animated film, the fact that it felt so short is a sign of how engrossed I was the whole time. Carrell’s hilarious accent along with some slightly broken English were among the many facets of the film that kept the giggles rolling almost the entire way. Visual gags, film references (such as Star Wars or Snow White), off-the-wall comments, dry wit, and simple slapstick all coalesced into a side-splitting comedy that meshed well with the poignancy of the girls’ desperate desire for a loving family.

It’s definitely worth a trip to the theater!

Toy Story 3, Pixar’s “final” chapter of a group of toys owned by a boy named Andy, is arguably better than the second film, which I did see but barely remember. I might even say I enjoyed it more than the first film, possibly because “jailbreak” movies are just so much fun! In this final installment, Andy is all grown up and heading off to college. He hasn’t played with his fun-starved toys in years, and despite their best efforts to entice him into playing with them, he’s just too old for toys. The toys are terrified that they’ll be thrown away. Woody insists they’ll simply be stored in the attic (a sort of “afterlife” for toys), but through a series of misunderstandings, they all get donated to a local daycare center.

At first, the daycare center seems like heaven. With a constant stream of children excited to play with them and a support group of other toys who provide repairs, what more could a toy want? Their first impression couldn’t have been more wrong, though. Quickly, they realize that their “support group” foists the unpleasant task of being toys for toddlers onto the new toys. The toddlers are too young to play with toys like Woody and Buzz, who are meant for an older age group, and the rough play is surely going to break them permanently, which is a one-way ticket to the dumpster. It’s time to escape daycare!

I definitely loved this film, though one section of the film, in which the toys are trying to avoid literal destruction at the local dump, seems over-the-top with the toys holding hands as they slowly sink down a massive pile of garbage debris toward an humongous inferno. I wouldn’t call that section “violent” per se, but something about it was terrifying, and though the filmmakers may have been shooting for just that reaction, it and other emotionally poignant scenes really grate against the funnier scenes. Even so, the emotional density of the film deserves a bravo, especially since the themes of “abandonment” and “moving on” are layered so well.

As for comparing Despicable Me and Toy Story 3, they quite possibly are too different to really compare them. Sure, obvious similarities are there: the orphans of the former and the toys of the latter both fall in line with the theme of abandonment and the desire to be loved. However, the former is a film about reformation and the latter is mainly a prison escape. The former is a standalone film heavier on the comedy than the pathos, while the latter is the third in a trilogy that concentrates on the desperation of abandoned toys rather than the hi-jinks that ensue when they go from one bad situation to the next. (This isn’t to say that Toy Story 3 isn’t also very, very funny. Spanish Buzz and metrosexual Ken top a long list of running jokes, visual gags, snappy one-liners, and just plain bizarreness.)

Despicable Me has more replay value, and Gru’s countless yellow minions were an endless source of amusement, but Toy Story played off nostalgia and other beloved movie tropes to provide entertainment. In my book, they’re both excellent films that deserve high praise.

If only a good horror film would be released… :(

My Fourth of July weekend was spent on the opposite coast from Seattle: the Hudson Valley of New York. My boyfriend and I went there to visit his family and friends. I met his mother for the first time. (!!) And I met quite a number of his crazy but very endearing friends.

The first day we were on the East Coast, the b/f’s dad picked us up from Newark and drove us the two hours it took to get to their BEAUTIFUL house, which is about forty-five minutes north of NYC. His dad spent a month when they first got the house renovating it and its kitchen is amazing! Also, they had a pool and it was soooo nice to go swimming! I hadn’t been swimming in years, discounting a trip to an onsen (that’s “hot spring”) when I lived in Japan–and a random aside: I can’t believe I went into that onsen naked.

The b/f’s mom strangely reminded me of my mom, only with a tiny hint of a mild New Yorker accent. She and her husbnd were really great hosts who cooked up several yummy meals, and I really enjoyed my time with them.

Last Friday was the day we all drove down to “the City” as they called it. It seems the natural thing to call NYC but I didn’t grow up with it and it was kind of cool. Anyway, we parked near Lincoln Center (I think?) and then walked around a bit. We got some breakfast pastries and then boarded the two-hour-long Circle Line. I learned a lot about NYC’s major attractions and also was very amused at how many people completely disregarded the crew’s request to remain seated in a certain part of the ferry, even when that request was made literally fifteen times. I got to see the Statue of Liberty, the Battery, several major bridges, and NYC’s beautiful skyline. After the Circle Line, we walked through Central Park and then ended up at Shake Shack. They serve typical Americana cuisine, but the b/f is in love with their burgers, and I must admit that their hot dog (and shake!) were pretty scrumptious.

The number of street performers, including quite a few in the park, was kind of amazing. I mean, Seattle has its share of street performers, typically the same dozen along Pike Place Market’s street, so it was nice to see something new. Also, it was SUUUUPER hot that day in the city. I was grateful for any moment of A/C or sea breeze.

Saturday morning, the b/f and I went to breakfast at a place called Fiddlestix, where I met a few of his friends. It was a good time and it was nice to get a little more insight into the kind of person my baby is. (SUPER CUTE) The pancakes were pretty good, too. :D

I honestly can’t recall exactly what the rest of Saturday entailed, but I know that Saturday night, the b/f and I went to a restaurant/bar where I met even more of his friends. I think earlier on Saturday was when we had a pizza-’n-beer pool party, though. That was fun times, but I ended up dunking myself in the pool way more often than anyone else because I kept thinking that I could smell my skin burning. @_@

Sunday was the Fourth, and after a little sleeping in, the b/f and I went to one of his friends’ houses, where we socialized for a while before going to the local parade. After that, we went back to the friend’s house for a nice barbecue and then watched the local fireworks from the b/f’s parents’ porch. Excellent view!

Monday was spent lazing around and then we flew back to Seattle on Tuesday. I didn’t get to sleep until nearly 1am and was up again at 7am to get to work by 8:30. Oh how I wish I just wrote for a living!!

I’m working on a quickie for Ellora’s Cave. I’ll give you a clue as to its contents boils down to one (made-up) word: agoraphilia. I’m now pondering titles–a bit prematurely–but it’s nice to have a clever one in mind. I’ll post more details once my rough draft is done!

Summer has finally reached Seattle. We broke 75F for the first time in a LONG time. Also, I’ve been getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. I caved and bought a spray bottle of Off! in order to keep the little buggers at bay. My latest bug bites has one on my arm and also one just below my right eye! I’m fairly allergic to mosquito bites, so the skin around the bite is puffy and a little red, leading people to think I’ve been punched in the face or recently crying. :-/ I can’t wait until this stupid bite goes away. I can feel it every time I blink! Grah!

Also, I’m excited about a week-long trip to New York for the Fourth of July. I hope to take a few pictures on the day I go down to NYC. My boyfriend tells me I must eat at this place called Shake Shack. Best burger ever? We’ll find out!

A couple of months ago, my b/f invited me to go see a band he liked, Imogen Heap. I didn’t recognize the name until he mentioned Frou Frou. Ah! I had heard a song by this British electronic band when I saw an anime music video (an extremely elaborate one) for RahXephon. I like electronic music, so I said sure!

Last Monday, we went to Imogen Heap’s concert at the Paramount. The whole thing started a bit late, and then we sat stood through three opening acts. The first was a large group of singers/guitarists from Seattle who did three or four songs. The second was a electric violin duet called Geese, whose music I honestly can’t describe. They use their violins to make strange noises and layer these noises to make what I guess you could call music. The first of their songs was okay, but I don’t think it’s my thing. The last opening act was Ben Christophers, a British singer/songwriter. His voice, once Zach pointed it out to me, sounds like Thom Yorke from Radiohead. That same higher-pitched, tongue against the teeth sound. The jury is still out on him–not sure if I liked him or not.

After an hour of opening acts and another twenty minutes (at least) of an intermission, it was nearly 9pm when Imogen Heap came out. Boy, did we get our money’s worth. She sang at least a dozen songs. She also improvised a new song based on a key the audience shouted out and a short melody an audience member hummed for her. You can buy the song (once it’s available) at her site to help donate to a local charity. June 14th’s song isn’t online as of this posting, but maybe soon. She also had the audience sing with her for one song, and split us up in three groups. That was pretty fun.

My favorites that she sang (that I can remember) was Come Here Boy, Headlock, Earth, and Little Bird. Anyway, if you’re a fan of electronic and if you’re not already a fan of Imogen Heap, she’s got a couple of albums out already and her latest is Ellipse, which you can listen to below. Also, I’ve posted the Youtube video is of Headlock, which is from an older album.

I’ve seen the original Karate Kid (1984) many times. I’ve seen its kick-ass sequel several times as well. I’ve even seen The Karate Kid, Part III once and The Next Karate Kid once (yeah, the one starring Hilary Swank). I love Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi. We all know the “wax on, wax off” routine and we all love that scene at the end where Daniel does his famous crane pose and kicks his opponent in the face.

The original film didn’t win any Academy Awards, though Pat Morita was nominated for one, but it is a classic. It’s perfectly representative of the 1980s, and it’s not an easy task to make an updated edition.

The Karate Kid (2010) (its international English title is better: The Kung Fu Kid) stars Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wenwen Han, and Zhenwei Wang. Jaden, the son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, is Hollywood royalty. In his newest role, he plays Dre Parker, whose mother packs them up and moves them to China for a job transfer. He tries to make friends but quickly becomes the victim of school bullies, who all learn Kung Fu under the same teacher, Master Li (played by Rongguang Yu). This teacher, as in the original, teaches his students to give “no mercy” to their opponents, making Kung Fu into a way to hurt people rather than maintain peace.

When the bullies gang up on him six to one, the maintenance man at the apartment complex where Dre lives intervenes. Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) impresses Dre so much with his Kung Fu that Dre becomes interested in learning, hoping that he can use Kung Fu to protect himself. Mr. Han reluctantly agrees to teach him in order to prepare him for a tournament where the bullies will participate. Throughout the film, Dre learns more about Mr. Han, about himself, and about the meaning of Kung Fu. All the while, Dre’s friendship with a pretty violinist blooms as he becomes more confident in his new environment.

This film is longer than the original by ten minutes, allowing for more time for Dre to interact with his mother, Mr. Han, and the violinist, Meiying. Smith’s acting is very good, which is saying a lot for a child actor, even if his parents are also actors. He has great timing, an expressive face, and that same presence that his father brings to all of his own movies. Jackie Chan is perfect in his role as Mr. Han, which is a more somber character than Mr. Miyagi, but nonetheless a well-balanced mix of amusing and serious. The “lead” bully was also strangely good in his role. His about-face at the end is jolting, but I did feel scared for Dre when Cheng had his sights set on him.

My only complaint, besides the silly title, is the reason why Master Li is such a jerk. In the original as well, this character had no clear reason for teaching children to pound each other without mercy. At least the original used “high school children” rather than 12 year olds (I say “high school kids” because none of those actors were high school age), but it’s still alarming that parents would allow a Kung Fu teacher to instill in their children such a violent attitude.

Anyway, I did love this movie. I like the actors, I like the Kung Fu fighting, and the goofier parts were extremely amusing. It’s worth a trip to the theater!

So I don’t use much humor in my novels; they tend on the serious side. However, I’d like to think of myself as a pretty funny person IRL*. My humor isn’t the “stand-up” type, though. I’m not the girl with funny stories. I’m more of a conversationalist. I use someone else’s answers to make things interesting. Some juvenile examples include “That’s what she said”* and “I [blank]‘d your mom last night”*.

I also like to be extremely random. When it’s quiet at work and everyone’s kind of spacing out, I like to start humming Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It” and see how many of my co-workers join in.

My question to you is this: how would you describe your sense of humor in five words or less? Me? It’s “juvenile, random, and brilliant”.

* Modern Slang Lessons:

It’s been busy for me lately. I’m trying to stuff too many things into my day! (That sentence could’ve ended…differently. *snerk!*) Work has been busy, I’m reading through some research a good friend sent to me (anyone up for a fun little tumble in an 18th-century pleasure garden?), and I also had to deal with a little accident I had Friday night.

I was driving on my scooter to a friend’s home (to play D&D, heh) and it had been raining off and on all day. It was misty when I got to about the halfway mark and was turning a corner. Whoomp! The scooter slid on the wet asphalt and down I went. I remember saying “Oh God!” and then thinking how utterly embarrassed I was once I realized I was lying on the road. Kind of stupid to be embarrassed at that point in time rather than simply grateful to be alive, but that’s me for you.

I also had this secondary line of thought, though not as loud as the one crying about humiliation, that was freaking out about being injured. My right leg was throbbing nastily and I wasn’t sure I wanted to get up just yet.

Then I see four people standing around me. The truck that was going to turn the same corner as me had stopped and the driver got out. Two pedestrians ran over, and the driver from another car ran over as well. They all wanted to know if I needed help, if I was all right. I tried to get up, but the pick-up driver said, “No, no. Just sit there a minute!” So I did. The seat of my pants were getting soaked, sitting there on the wet pavement, but sure, sitting sounded nice.

The two drivers turned off my scooter and rolled it to the nearby sidewalk. The pedestrians hovered over me for another minute and then helped me up. They made sure I was okay and at my scooter before wishing me well and walking on.

Eventually, no one who had seen me fall off my scooter was around and I felt like I’d make it home, so I tried to start up my scooter. It wouldn’t.

OHHHH CRAP. I tried unsuccessfully for a few minutes to start it up. Then I realized I’d need to push this stupid thing home. Uphill. For ten blocks. OH YAY.

The good news I learned the next day was that the scooter was fine. I had left the kill switch on, which is used if I need to quickly turn off the scooter. The bad news was that I had to get a new helmet and scrap the one I had been using since a hard fall like the one I had means the helmet’s inner materials are compromised. I had “used up” my trusty red helmet.

A few bruises and some body aches were my souvenirs from the accident, but I’ll take those over stitches, casts, or hell, a broken neck. Goes to show how quickly it can all fall apart, y’know?

Anyway, the point of my post is this: with all the crap going on in the world–the BP oil spill, the international incident between Turkey and Israel, the US economy, the tensions in the Middle East and between North and South Korea, and the officially longest war in US history–isn’t it comforting to know that the people around you will drop what they’re doing and stop to see if you’re okay? That the kindness of others still exists?

I hope all of you have happy, healthy summers. Take care of yourselves, and take care of each other. I’m gonna go have some ice cream. :p

Go Inside the Mind of a Romantic, where Mary Sue projects her romantic ideals onto everyday situations! I’m shooting for one of these a month, and if you’ve got an idea you’d love to see come to 2D life via my craptastic Photoshop skills, please shoot me an email!

Click for Comic 001!

Maybe it’s because I was a little buzzed on two glasses of Chardonnay, or maybe it’s because I have played through the video games on which Prince of Persia is based, but I went into this movie a little biased and so take a grain of salt with this review.

Disney’s Prince of Persia is based on the very successful Sands of Time video game series from 2003 to 2005 (not the original Prince of Persia series from the late 80s and early 90s). The game featured a nameless prince, who teams up with the princess from the city he and his father have just conquered to reverse the destruction wrought by the Sands of Time, which the prince was tricked into unleashing by the king’s evil vizier. The prince fights sand warriors and has to make his way through the endless rooms of the palace in order to accomplish this. The various areas the prince goes through all have their obstacles–a bridge that needs to be lowered or a door that needs to be opened–and you as the player must use various acrobatics to find levers or buttons to move past these obstacles.

There are two ways to die: getting hit too many times by an enemy or–more commonly–falling to your death. This is where the rewind feature of the Dagger of Time is helpful.

In the Disney movie, the Prince does have a name, Dastan, and he and his brothers make the decision to attack a holy city based on information from one of their best spies that the city is forging and selling weapons to Persia’s enemies. The city’s princess, Tamina, insists they have no weapons. When the king of Persia comes to her city to reprimand his sons for conquering a holy city, he is murdered when he puts on a poisoned prayer robe, and Dastan is blamed for it. He and Tamina escape from the wrath of Dastan’s uncle and brothers, and they must protect the Dagger of Time from whoever amongst Dastan’s family has sought to use it for their own gain.

While this is an action movie and not a 10 hours+ video game with room for internal dialogue or flashbacks, the film does manage to give Dastan a solid motivation for wanting to clear his name and undo the tragedies that befall his family and kingdom. The audience can sympathize with him. However, the princess’s character development was weak and the dialogue between her and the prince was hit or miss. She mentions her duties as the princess, but other than her dedication to fulfilling those duties, we don’t learn too much about her, and for 95% of the film, she comes off as pretentious. It really is difficult to manage a strong heroine without just making her bitchy.

Secondary characters in this film were the usual fare for a Disney film. A comedic relief in the form of a tax-evading ostrich-racing entrepreneur. A taciturn knife-thrower with a conscience. I did like that a character I was sure would be a villain turned out not to be, but what I wish the film could’ve done was to simply be more like the video game. The “mystery” of who had murdered the king and why was something you could’ve solved in the first ten minutes. In a movie more like the game, in which the Sands of Time have already been unleashed and the prince must lock them back inside the hourglass, you have much more interaction with the prince and princess, and you have more time for some actual substance rather than 70% swashbuckling, 20% jokes, and 10% drama.

Even so, this movie is well worth the price of a ticket. It’s entertaining, it’s different, and the acting is pretty good. I expect that a sequel is possible, but we’ll see. Also, you really should play the video games. They’re quite good, and they’re very well balanced with both puzzle-solving and some combat. The prince in the video games is a mix of sarcasm and charm all rolled up into one delicious character with some pretty impressive upper body strength. The first and third in the series are both very fun, so I highly recommend playing those games if you have a console or know someone with one.