War of the Worlds, with Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. Generally, not so great. [probably spoilers, but not if you read the novel, I suppose] I usually like Fanning okay, but her hysterical and bratty character was way out of line for my taste. As my dad pointed out for Cruise, he pretty much plays one character, over and over and over; which I happen to like to some degree, so that was fine, I suppose. The special effects were the highlight of the movie, in my opinion. The story, as it was pretty much true to the novel from what I remember, unfortunately is not really enough to carry the weight of the actors and special effects; I mean, it makes for a great scifi short story or Outer Limits episode, but a Spielberg epic? Not so much. The aliens were great (always a fan of nonhumanoid), and the way they brought to life the novel's three-legged design was clever (I read that the effects and concept crews took issue with it at first, as it is really just not a very effecient idea).
      The movie did bring up in my mind a few things that kept me from dwelling on Fanning's shrieks. One, that the scenes with the alien walkers were similar to the exciting unscripted interactions with similar large walkers in the latter part of the game Half-Life 2, so if one wants to experience their feelings from the movie again, voila. The plants at the end reminded me of two things, in their sense as a motif. One, Evolution's Shore by Ian MacDonald, in which there are no aliens per se, but only the plant life (or an approximation of plants as such). Two, the Invid Invasion novels and animation, where aliens invade because an alien plant has taken up residence on Earth. It might make for an interesting essay to confer the three and see what comes out of it. I suppose even the plot of Half-Life 2 could possibly enter into it, if one could tie in suppression of the ability to procreate with maybe something symbolic about the plants (ooo, maybe a Narcissus angle).

The Story of Language, by Mario Pei. Great stuff - basically, a book about linguistics that heroically resists the seemingly pervasive tendency of linguistic books to descend into ill-explained jargon. Apparently I like multi-syllable words. Part one delves into what exactly language is, and its history in terms of the human race. Part two is probably a bit slower going generally than the other parts, involving various aspects of grammar and study of pronunciation. Part three picks up again with the social functions of language, then part four was my favorite, running through the different major and minor language groups and discussing their characteristics. There is one more short part beyond that about the problems of developing an international language, both by logic and politics. Throughout there are practically lists of interesting trivia, and the author's style is sharp and witty at times, thought as it was written in the sixties some of the Cold War ideology is out of date.

PowerPuff Girls Doujinshi - while I am currently suffering from a self-induced fast from collecting actual comics, I do try to indulge my happiness from cartoons whenever I can (re: Foster's or Cowboy Bebop). This webcomic is a nice extrapolation if one enjoys kicking back to the Cartoon Network, as the art is quality, the plot is pleasantly simple, and the cameos and stylized versions of the cartoon characters are great fun.

Rocking phrases of the day/phrases that sold us on things:
"Let them fight the good fight. Someone has to fight the war."
and Xuemei's:
"This is the beginning. One book. One Rule. Witness the birth of a legend."