Memnoch the Devil, by Anne Rice. Well, I've officially been de-virginized to Rice - thank you, Ms. Jasmine. I have to say, I did like it for the most part; though the vampires that Rice is particularly known for were completely ancillary to the story, it was a good introductory book for me to read in how much I enjoy variations on the story of Lucifer. This variation was of special note in my mind because it hadn't particularly occurred to me before that most other variations use only a traditional view of heaven and hell - this one very much doesn't.

To flip the coin, there was something continously...presumptuous about the writing, or perhaps the story. Well, perhaps it was more that I was torn between the wonderful and awe-ful story the devil-in-question told, and the complete opposite of those aspects brought on by having the God-in-question so personified. As much as it really was a great variation, that personification just made the implacable, omnipotent force of nature into another character, equal to or even less than the others in stature. I suppose that might have been exactly what Rice was going for, but I was still a bit leary of it.

Veronica Mars is a great show that Ms. Connie found; it's got a touch of The OC, which I'm not sure whether to call fortunate or unfortunate, but it works, and otherwise is a snappy combination of a mundane Buffy and a Janet Evanovich novel.

The Purifiers, with Kevin McKidd and Dominic Monaghan. This is what I happened to watch after coming home from a cross-country flight, and eating a bowl of leftover tuna. I had only planned to flip channels, but Monaghan's presence (not out of any particular liking, but because I thought it odd he'd be in a kung fu movie) and some vague promise of original and good choreography held me. Oh my, but was it bad. I'd say the ADD editing during the fight scenes was 'stylized' if I didn't think it was to hide poor, poor quality. And the plot and writing were...cute. But not in a good way, if that makes any sense. Like I wanted to pat it on the head, for making an effort despite being a ripoff of The Warriors with a weak near-future twist.

Backwards light? Besides that I don't really get the concept still, what application could there be?

Awww, heartwarming. And...uh...polyp-y.


Cool, but I can't imagine it could be as fun as cutting up a pumpkin

Acacia, with Shim Hye-jin and Kim Jin-geun. Well, Ms. Kim got me to watch the first scary movie I've watched in a long ol' time. I don't really do well with scary stuff, as much I really do love it - it completely messes with me and fascinates me at the same time. Anyway, I don't think most devotees of Western horror or slasher flicks would enjoy this too much, but if you're interested in well-layered imagery and understated, quality cinematography, that pretty much sums the movie up. That said, there's a strong beginning, which continues for most of the movie, only stumbling near the end, which wasn't disappointing, but...I think, since most of the scares in the movie were interestingly based in the imagery/created-symbols involved, that the explanation at the end stopped that pattern was something I'd rather they'd done differently; still okay, though. Ah, perhaps it was more that it couldn't decide on whether to maintain the supernatural? But there's a certain element of debate ready to be had as the quality of supernatural throughout the whole thing. Call this movie a thriller with a touch of the supernatural, then. Who'd have ever thought a bloody tree could be so creepy, though?

interesting, kind of poetic thought:
"It might seem strange to us that the yogis place the seat of wisdom in the heart [symbolized by sun], which we typically associate with our emotions, and not the brain. But in yoga, the brain is actually symbolized by the moon, which reflects the sun's light but generates none of its own."

Heh, I guess I'd like to think that the first part of this is a true statement, though I can think of some people I know who do yoga while seemingly actively striving to live against its principles. As to the latter part, I'm inclined to remember that the 'supple' here implies a combination of great strength along with flexiblity - something that will adapt, but not break:
"All practicing yogis are, by necessity, yoga philosophers. At stake is whether we will become as supple in our minds as we are in our bodies."

Completely random: I think a good model for archery in a video game would be to have it where the longer the button is held, the more powerful or far-reaching the shot is, but the less accurate it becomes - thus, reflecting the fact of muscles getting tired in drawing a bow. And looking for the resulting sweet-spot that would be needed between strength and accuracy would be fun for a video game.

Pubs and used books? Hell yeah.

I just want to note my dad's response to watching to watching Eurotrip: "Ahhh, this brings back memories." Hmm.

I don't expect to find these puppies, but I've been wanting to try goji berries for a while

The Great War: American Front, by Harry Turtledove. Well, I decided to give Turtledove another chance, as the first novel I'd ready by him was a mishmash of gratuitous sex, violence, and bad science fiction. Which, you know, might make for a fun beer-and-pretzel novel, unless it's written in a too-dry, academic-historical manner that takes itself too seriously.

Anyway. This novel was better, though less engaging, ironically. It's like a really long docu-drama, and is about as exciting - which fits the topic better, in the end, without cheesy science fiction and pulp-style violence. But as interesting as the topic certainly is (what if the Confederates had won the Civil War - would the South fight the North all over again in WWI? who would become allies? what roles would slaves, Amerindians, and Mormons play?), I'd almost rather have it all in a fictional timeline than in stories of bland characters that seem to all blur together despite their random jumping around.

New X-Men: Academy X Vol. 1 I got this little compilation on Free Comic Book Day, mainly because I couldn't really decide on any of the main X-Men titles. But, I have to say, I was quite pleasantly surprised; the art is great, the writing is pretty light-hearted but not too silly, and it's an interesting expansion of the mutant part of the Marvel setting, in my opinion. From another angle, I prefer Academy X much more than the more serious, but not as interesting, previously run Generation X, I have to say.

I'm always a sucker for playing with words, and a Tank Girl reference will always win my heart

A couple subsequent thoughts on Mission: Impossible III. One, I thought the use of technology in the movie was deftly handled. While the film might not have an 'ageless' quality like, say, The Bourne Supremacy, which could have possibly taken place in many eras of espionage, it instead took advantage of current or near technology within the narrative without doing it gratuitously - the technology served the story. I'll note the gradually increasing prevalance of 'future' technology in narrative that's similar to that old favorite shared setting of mine, Shadowrun (unrelatedly, glee!), such as the bomb-in-the-brain and the use of drones.

Secondly, I find it curious that they gave the Mission: Impossible movies a numbering, because they don't so much seem sequels to me as variations on a similar theme. Each has Ethan Hunt wanting out of the IMF, each has a girl, each involves a traitor in one capacity or another. So, as Wyatt pointed out to me, in a sense they could have been similar to the James Bond movies, each of which has little connection to the others, but follows a similar narrative structure each time.

Mission Impossible III, with Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames. And Laurence Fishburne, Maggie Q (whom I want a poster of in that red dress she wears...), Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Michelle Monaghan. Basically, a lot of actors I have a high opinion of, when it comes down to it. And it was directed by J. J. Abrams, which apparently turned out to mean the story played out like a really long Alias episode (not to mention the identical signature cinematography and approach to the espionage groups in question). Which, in my opinion, is a good thing. I was certainly kept on the edge of my seat for a good solid portion of the movie, though I almost wish they'd had a bit more of an expansive setting in combination with that Alias style, but that obviously is only viable in a continuous setting like a television show or comic book.

interesting trivia from an article on the fight/flight reflex -
"Muscles that have tensed are left shortened and do not automatically go back to their former length. On the contrary, spinal reflexes make them contract if they begin to lengthen: After the danger has passed and the brain lets the muscles relax a little, the spinal cord immediately tells them to tense up again. At first, they go through a very rapid cycle of relaxing a little and then contracting, again and again."

Mmm, flowers. Hibiscus tea steeped for twelve hours is insanely sweet and hurts your teeth, but it's good. As are rose-flavored turkish delight, though they have a subtler flavor. Ocotillo blossoms are sweet when you pull out their insides to suck on, and different kinds of pricklypear petals each have a unique, spicy or sweet flavor. Any other ideas?

Springtime in the Sonoran desert! When stuff is actually green for a while - not so green as during the monsoon (hey....Feifei might be here during that! awesomeness.), but green enough. It's actually probably more colorful, than just verdant, in the end - flowers are everywhere. Every palo verde in the city is festooned in chartreuse, and the mesquites have their flourescent caterpillar pollen stems, ocotilla reds, every kind of pink and orange and yellow and red and green cactus flower abounds - and I even saw some saguaro blossoms! Which makes me suddenly realize - hey, I haven't seen the wildflowers in Sabino Canyon yet....hmm......

Without a Paddle, with Seth Green and Matthew Lillard. First of all, I could barely stand Green in the role they had him in; I realize he often plays roles that approximate the 'neurotic' or the 'oddball,' but never to such a dippy extreme. Secondly, the writing was also dippy. As well, the feel-good messages. Burt Reynolds has a small role, which was kind of eh. Did I mention that I only happened to be sitting in the room, while this movie played, and willfully sought to devote my attention to other things?

and an interesting experiment

Here's an interesting article conferring aspects of meditation from yogic (specifically Patanjali's Sutras) and generalized Buddhist points of view. I think it would have been interesting had the author had room to delve into some other variances, such as the Siddha yoga that I subscribe more to, or different schools of thought on Buddhism, but it's a nice article as is.

In other news, I noted another little physical habit that I can have fun correcting - while having to stand for a protracted period of time, I noted that my feet were hurting beyond what they should have been. After all, hadn't I corrected my posture enough that my skeleton was aligned with gravity to bear the weight of my flesh without my muscles having to work? But: I noted the inside sides of my feet were dipping inward, putting a bit of strain on the insides of my ankles and knees. I could tell the muscles weren't used to it, but a bit of attention towards shifting my weight more evenly to the inside and outside sides of my feet did wonders for the issue.

I thought this was interesting in how it could be applied to nigh anything -
"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." - Margaret Thatcher

an article on the positive effects of yoga - I thought it was kind of interesting in that as much as I'm into yoga, were I asked I'm not sure I could think of a good, clear answer of what it really does

Ultimate Avengers, with...several voices of various people. This is one movie I would not have gone out of my way to see, or perhaps a better way of phrasing that is I only watched it out of obligation. It wasn't unpleasant to watch; it was actually a decent animated movie, it's plot wasn't entirely cohesive or deep in any way, but it didn't need to be. I was never really a fan of the Avengers as a comic nor the Ultimate spinoffs, so that probably colors a large portion of my opinion. That said, if you like the Avengers and that kind of traditional, superhero comic, this movie is actually probably quite enjoyable.

How many people you want to bet end up eating these?

Interesting - the Skiffy channel announced Caprica (as if my time won't be taken up by that channel enough already)

Bird and Moon - a lovely little image story

whitney music box - interesting.

I just want to make a quick pass at an old movie I caught again late last night, Crow: City of Angels. While many people seem to enjoy the first Crow more, I much prefer the...well, it's not a sequel, per se, but rather an extension of the setting, or a retelling of an archetypical story, in a sense. It has a relatively tight narrative and attention to semantic details (how can you beat a background grafitti of the symbol of "om"?), and with plenty of references to multiple mythologies to boot. To me it's an ideal urban folk or fairytale, with all of the dark elan and atmosphere a real fairytale should provide.

Another random thought - I think wire is an interesting medium for craft, on the basis that it's very adaptable - it can act as everything from a medium for sculpture to taking on the properties of rope, or string. I love how it has a memory for shape imparted to it, but at the same time can be called upon to take on tension against itself, as in ropes in a net, for example.

Also, an interesting column on writing in regards to the interwebnet

and a random quote that makes a quite interesting distinction, though I'll counter the vitriol towards Myspace by saying that it works quite well as a medium for keeping in touch with people, which the other two are really not able to do as well at all -
"So there is immediately a different mindset. MySpace is more about the person than what the person has to say. While Xanga and Blogger are predominately freelance soapboxes for trails of (un)conventional thought and opinions, MySpace serves as a catalyst to senseless long-distance relationships and incoherent babble by the masses."

Did I post this one already? Hm. Well, here it is again (maybe) -

It seems funny that a few words, a note
can raise such ire inside.
Perhaps I should call it a poem in prose
to justify this emotion it wakes,
this heat that sings in my veins
and singes the skin of my face,
lighting it crimson from the inside.

Or is it the content, the meaning
of these verbal symbols?
Am I caught in their semantic web,
the threads of connotation too fine to see?
I wonder whether this red disquiet
is a venom of imagined words between words,
whether I am already cocooned
and dreaming poison dreams.

The author, I insist to myself-
it is the writer of this text,
the one who set the message
to paper in ink of arsenic and rust,
who tattooed it in the rapid rhythm of my heart.

But even as my blood burns to sing
in brimstone harangue, even as my eyes narrow
at the brightness of my fiery, righteous response
to the affront of words, meaning, and intent,
I stumble into that quiet moment,
where flame becomes ember.

My anger is my own.
Though I stalk and circle, blade in hand,
I realize there is no handle –
the blood dripping from its edge
flows from the hand that grips it.

My choice is my own.
I sheathe the sword,
still slick with crimson emotion
and wait

for stillness.

Amber and Ashes, by Margaret Weis. This novel was...well, inconsistent. I'm a bit sorry to say it for some reason, but I have to wonder whether the quality of Weis' writing suffers without her husband on board. It often seemed a bit dumbed down, and not intentionally, even, and I really couldn't quite figure out whether the wavering focus on the pantheon-of-gods archetype was supposed to be epic or more personally dramatic. I will note a particular passage near the beginning which leads me to think that Weis had to have been reading yogic texts as she was writing, it was uncanny the parallels with something else I was reading concurrently. As to the attempt to add a martial arts aspect to the Dragonlance, I'm torn, as it was kind of nicely understated, but at the same time cliche - I think she could have made it more unique to the setting, rather than relying on old standbys.

On saving money -

on gas, in Tucson
---and everywhere

and on plane tickets

and passport photos!

Scarface, with Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. While kind of slow (maybe by "today's" frenetic standards, I suppose), Scarface does have a certain Shakespearean grandeur to it, like a tragedy spread over many years. I loved the way the camera would track slowly back and forth rather than just cutting between shots, it was something I've not seen much at all but was used to wonderful effect. And the one-liner moments in this movie! Great stuff. There's not really a single "good guy" in the story, but it's hard not to like Tony Montana, somehow.

I just like this:
"I should be content to look at a mountain for what it is, and not as a comment on my life." David Ignatow

Google Scholar would have probably been hugely helpful when I was doing my thesis...well, hm, if it has articles beyond the scientific, I didn't think to check. Still, maybe somebody still in school will be able to take advantage of it.

poem-y goodness from a friend - yay, I'm not the only one!

Ones and Zeros

Moonbeams slide oiled
Through the ocean of darkness
And the sound of her laughter
Peals through the air.

Sparrows fly swiftly
Through soot-coated forests
But the girl who once laughed
Is no longer there.

She fled through tangles of
Wrought-iron erratic.
Hid behind vines
Red, black, yellow, white.
As numbers scroll down
From rain clouds of static.
She lets bands of data
Block her from sight.

Darkness weighs heavy
Through a casket of glass
As she leans against it,
Wondering who'd care.

Sunbeams beam sharply
Through rivers of asphalt.
And she walks the water
Photons bright in her hair.

"Primitive Indo-European had pairs of words for some very common things, such as water or fire. Typically, one word in the pair was active, animate, and personified; the other, impersonal and neuter in grammatical gender." - nothing much in particular there, just thought it was interesting

From Mr. Scott, the bibliochaise...which on one level I find slightly freaky, and on another level, aweso.