Quote from AFP: (heh amanda palmer, not agency france-presse)

"Being alone is hugely important. I've often thought that if I'd had the internet as a teenager, I may never have become a good songwriter. I think would have been too addicted to all of the wonderful possibilities online - I was a very connection-hungry kid. But that time to INCUBATE as an artist, to really spend a lot of time alone and improvising and being bored and finding ways to fill up space, that's what made me blossom creatively. It took SPACE. I'll be really interested to see what happens with the next generation. The ones who are more tempted to play guitar hero than play guitar. But once again, I don't think there's a "better" or "worse"....I think it might just be a breeding ground for a new type of artist."

from http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/07/interview-amanda-palmer.html hypebot.com, in an email interview.

As good an argument as any to get my butt off the computer and start writing/ reading critically... and pass my Alevels.

Alas, I am wraught with a terrible inertia. (excuses.)
And a bad "I have to finish this, so I'll pull an all-nighter" work ethic.
Have been sleeping 2-3 hours a night for the past three days, and running on $1 coffee. That might explain the jumpiness and extreme emotions.

Hello readers. I suppose now you're going to get a blow-by-blow account of my reactions to what is happening RE: hbp and my video on BestWishesFromNL.

I subbed for Jonneke yesterday on the channel, and it took a freaking NINE HOURS to upload and a lot of agonising but it's up and I'm so ~happy! Have to find synonyms for happy; I'm using it too much. Right. I feel lucky! delighted! joyful! ecstatic! glad! no not just glad but very very satisfied and um Ah Ha. I am THRILLED.

There's only 1 tiny problem: I can't bring myself to watch it. I mean after I've edited the video it's hard to watch myself once it's uploaded because it's so mortifying. The thought that other people have actually watched you... do stuff is so scary. [lack of vocabulary much?] Okay in short: I am embarrassed of myself.

And I find myself questioning, over and over and over again:
Was I in the right mind while doing this?
Do I need Prozac?
What the heck was I thinking?!
aaand ohmygoodness I can't believe people are actually watching this.

Am going to squee on the blog mostly, I think, because people in real life would go: "What's a nerdfighter?" And think I am crazy for screaming, happy-dancing and mock-fainting. Because that's what I was doing (embarrassingly) when I was watching HBP.

Speaking of HBP, *spoiler alert* did anyone catch the reference to the Parselmouths when Hermione is at dinner with Slughorn, and she's like: "My parents are dentists, that means they fix teeth." ?
From "What Kind of Name is Hermione?" :
Have you heard that her parents are dentists? (Dentists?)
That means they pick around in dirty muggles' teeth. (Ew!)

Okay on hindsight it may not be a reference, but if you actually watched the movie, slughorn's like: "Your parents are muggles?" And the whole table turns and stares at her.

And during the felix felicis part I just kept on thinking about the Harry and the Potters song!
There's a part where someone mentions "Slug Club", and I squealed aloud -_-' because then I thought of Scarhead and HatP.

After the movie Nat and I were chatting:

NAT: Did you see Snape? He was like: *scowls*
ME: More like *smoulders*. Did you see the part where he pushes draco up against the wall?

I was talking about all the smutty snape bits, and Nat (who is not the slashy type) had to shush me and go "That is not the focus! The point is his acting skills!"

I was a little disturbed by the part where Ginny goes to Harry: "Oh, shoelace." *bends down to tie it*
And then she rises, trying to keep as much eye contact with Harry as possible. It's so suggestive! No you have to go watch it's so funny.

After that it's "Merry Christmas, Harry." Loved the way Bonnie Wright delivered the line, packed with meaning and sadness and all. But... isn't this supposed to happen in DH? The part where Harry is leaving the Burrow and then Ginny invites him into her room and goes: "Here's your birthday present. *Snogs*"

Would jump at the chance to see it again, since geeru and michele haven't watched it yet. Will bring a notebook and write down all the references and nifty things I want to talk about.

[/edit] Amidst all the hype, I forgot to mention the ginny/harry kiss! For the record, it was so much better than the harry/cho one: quality trumps quantity. Just because cho got more action doesn't mean the scene was *good*-- there was no subtlety in the cho kiss, just a lot of "wow harry's first girlfriend wow better take your time!" The way ginny and harry kissed was more adult but they were more comfortable around each other, so you KNOW ginny's in it for the long run. Cho's kiss felt more like Harry liked the novelty of having a girlfriend-- very lavender brown, actually.

And! I absolutely adored Helena Bonham-Carter in this one-- she made bellatrix seem less like a bitch and more like a crazy person I'd make friends with. But she's not so much scary as schitzo, which might undermine her power/ meaness/ malice as a character.

--Reading Hayley's and Kristina's blogs, and Kayley's and alwayspureblood's videos, hence the intermittent commenting--

Think nat and I like the scriptwriter [Steve Kloves] this time because the lines were actually _good_ and packed with meaning. I mean within the constraints of a movie there's only so much you can say, but every line had a purpose. [comedic humour doesn't really count] Like you have to listen really carefully because the lines convey as much as they're supposed to, and more. It was also lovely that the first few bits of the movie were quoted word for word from the book, I kid you not.

Though. I sorely missed the King's Cross part; it was the scene I was looking forward to the most. Provides closure and everything. The underground scene at the beginning is a good effort to allude to King's Cross, though. OH I know why they couldn't do King's Cross-- they've renovated the station a lot, so it wouldn't look the same as Philosopher's Stone.

AHHHH

OH MY GOODNESS

OH

I THINK I'M GOING TO FAINT.

I come back from HBP, and there are a TON omg omg omg of new subscribers omgomg omg omgomg I haven't even read them yet.

There are 11 new emails in my gmail inbox, 7 of them are youtube-related, and I HAVE 5 NEW SUBSCRIBERS.

I mean on a good day I only get 1 or 2 youtube messages and they're mostly advertisements, or "come watch this!" and today ahh OMG I totally didn't expect such a reaction. !!! *so insanely excited*

OH MY GOODNESS this means I have viewers! Who actually watch!

I've never had viewers or readers before.

if you'll notice, the blogposts lately seem to be CAPS CAPS CAPS and are usually either intensely angry/ annoyed, or intensely excited, but I tend only to blog about exciting things. And this blog is mainly for ranting, and an outlet for fangirling. Will try to moderate my emotions somewhat.

Even though people who know me in real life think I'm dull, mild and boring. Psychoanalyse my blog! :D :D :D

The other day I was having an English lesson, and we were reading an essay about new media vs traditional media. The writer talks about the evolution of media in the introduction, and the following conversation ensues:

STUDENT: What is movable type?
TEACHER: Um, I don't know. Portable type, I guess?

Issue #1: !!! wtf The essay was talking about movable type in the 16TH CENTURY yeah there were PORTABLE TYPEWRITERS in the 16th century, right? I mean the sentence even mentioned "printing press"-- isn't that an anvil-sized hint that maybe portable typewriters wasn't what the author was referring to?

From wiki: "Movable type is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual letters or punctuation)."

MAYBE my classmate was just trying to kid the teacher. But still! Argh how can you be so ignorant. This is the reason why I so badly want/ need to be somewhere else.

Issue #2: I was too hesitant/ too stupid/ lacking guts to correct the teacher and say something to the contrary. Out of my class of 22, no one else bothered to correct her either. [but that is not the issue] The issue is that I should have more gumption to correct her. If people in the class genuinely didn't know what "movable type" meant, they would go home with the wrong impression, all because I was too lazy to say something. Really, I'm just a selfish, spiteful idiot.

I haven't posted in ages! To a certain extent I think twitter takes the place of this. For those of you not following me on twitter, I have NEWS.

I've won a book!!!! Extreme Kissing by Luisa Plaja, all thanks to Ink and Paper Specials' Sex in Teen Lit Month.

So there. In Yo Face.

(To detractors: yes a YA book isn't much, and a month dedicated to YA sometimes doesn't sound like very in-depth reading, but Sex and the way it is portrayed to teen readers is important. Partly because teen readers are so impressionable, and partly because adults/ readers in general want to make sure that young adults get the right information about sex: what it is and what it isn't.

And sometimes people have different ideas about what is "right information" for teens. Should there be graphic sex scenes? Should there be clear messages/ preaching in the book? What about abortion and safe sex?

Sex is also more than intercourse itself: in Sweet-Valley- High type novels, the "good girl" doesn't want it at all, but the "bad girl" does. Does that mean that girls shouldn't have the urge to have sex at all? Guys, also, do not just have One Thing and one thing only on their minds. )

Further Discussion! over at http://inkandpaperspecials.blogspot.com/

She only has 26 blog followers! So go follow. There are reviews of YA novels, interviews with YA authors, as well as discussions. (Jo, the reviewer, replies to most comments!) Ink and Paper Specials is also on twitter: http://twitter.com/jo_scrawls

Okay after I put the link to Sex in Teen Lit Month in the sidebar --->
(proper writeup for that in due time, I've got 15 min to do this post)

I feel that a more dignified blogpost is warranted! No silly rants about movies or wasted money. None 0f that frivolous, trite stuff. Today I am going to blog about something that is of grave importance.



*drumroll*




Oh my goodness I simply cannot wait!!!! *squee* Oh my goodness Oh how long have I waited for this movie to come out!

(YEAH boycotters, what are you going to do now, huh? When almost EVERYONE is squeeing and planning gatherings for the premiere in MAJOR CITIES. )

I cannot imagine that it's only a little more than one week to its release! Have been waiting and waiting and waiting since november when they postponed it, and even before that we were all waiting and WB released promo material already and they HAD to postpone it...

No matter! I am loyal to the fandom! (Not to mention to those in the film industry.) I will watch it! On the 16th of july! On the 15th if I can score tickets/ permission.

I will find someone to go with me! (Finally, the one potter thing where I know people in the area.) If YOU, lucky person, would like to go with me, I will be going on the evening of the 16th most probably. So comment! Email! elocin12@gmail.com and we will ~gather~ and fangirl/boy and squee. I will be taking video! So Be Warned.

The following is a extended rant/ complaint, so HEADS UP PEOPLE.

Argh I know this sounds selfish but I don't want to want Transformers 2. I mean REALLY? You really think I like watching movies of that nature? There's nothing good on and the reason why I don't watch movies in theatres because I hate wasting money on a horrible 2-3 hours. And argh I only spend when I KNOW the movie is going to be reasonably good, (haha this means I only watch 1-2 movies a year out of my own volition) which means I don't mind spending on HBP.

Yes I sound ridiculously poor but the cheapest movie ticket is $6 and that's on weekdays and I'd rather spend on bookmooch/ youswop postage or postage to friends than on MOVIES which are like consciously condemning yourself to a bad time. If you watch a crappy movie. I might be only talking like this because the last movie I saw was race to witch mountain, and I thought they'd stopped making movies with awful writing. But they didn't, so.

I am not willing to take the risk of Transformers turning out to be a cheesy, I-am-going-to-puke-movie. That's what I felt when I watched Witch Mountain. If the writing is horrible (which it probably will be) I swear I will walk out and go cd-hunting. No matter who I'm watching it with.

This is bordering on being pretentious but I _wanted_ to watch Hannah Montana which is practically the movie that tops B grade movies. This says volumes about my taste.

Oh great oh great I really don't want to spend my after-exam-time with lavender brown. I mean I keep thinking of all the post-midyears, and how incomparable they are to what I'm going to do tomorrow. 2 years ago I went out with charisse and michele shopping for SIX HOURS and I didn't regret/ dread it at all. And I never used to willingly go out with someone when I know I'm going to have an unpleasant time.

And then last year me and geeru went to the science centre after lunch with michele and nat. Although that sounds dorky, it was quite intriguing, and I had fun being defeatist with witty geeru who was nice enough to agree with my crazy ideas. I remember a conversation from that day-- we wanted to find out how to acquire a tourist map, in order to figure out where to go.

Okay tomorrow if I really hate it I can fake sick and go make/ edit videos and acquire books and everything will be better.