Saturday, 31 July 2010
Hungry for Change
It's not so far away until I have a go at the 40 hour famine for the first time.
I've decided to go without food and talking (seeing as I'd only be complaining anyway)
What are YOU going to do?
Oh yeah, sponsorship will be received with much love :)
Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Bzzz.
Oh, hi.
Yeah it's me. I'm here. I'm alive.
I'm also a lousy blogger, but then I guess you guys will all just have to deal with it.
Uh, sorry...
I really have nothing to say. Except for:
I WANT TO BE ABLE TO PLAY THIS SOOOOO BAD. Even badder than that billionaire guy wants to be a billionaire.
I like his style. Doesn't look like much of a pianist...but wow, can he play!
I think I can play it.
And no, it does not matter that the only reason I think I can is that such a thought may be a result of my chronically overactive imagination (and ridiculous wishful thinking).
Yeah it's me. I'm here. I'm alive.
I'm also a lousy blogger, but then I guess you guys will all just have to deal with it.
Uh, sorry...
I really have nothing to say. Except for:
I WANT TO BE ABLE TO PLAY THIS SOOOOO BAD. Even badder than that billionaire guy wants to be a billionaire.
I like his style. Doesn't look like much of a pianist...but wow, can he play!
I think I can play it.
And no, it does not matter that the only reason I think I can is that such a thought may be a result of my chronically overactive imagination (and ridiculous wishful thinking).
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Pursue at your leisure, English lovers. Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:
The bandage was wound around the wound.
The farm was used to produce produce.
The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
We must polish the Polish furniture.
He could lead if he would get the lead out.
The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object.
The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
They were too close to the door to close it.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
After a number of injections my jaw got number.
Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France (surprise!).
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose two geese, so one moose, two meese? Doesn't it seem crazy, that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?
Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
P.S. Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?
The farm was used to produce produce.
The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
We must polish the Polish furniture.
He could lead if he would get the lead out.
The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object.
The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
They were too close to the door to close it.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
After a number of injections my jaw got number.
Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France (surprise!).
Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. Quicksand works slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose two geese, so one moose, two meese? Doesn't it seem crazy, that you can make amends but not one amend. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? Is it an odd, or an end?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?
Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
P.S. Why doesn't "Buick" rhyme with "quick"?
Saturday, 19 June 2010
C-OR-aline. Coraline Jones.
Hello,
The other day someone said I only blog once a month. Actually, that's not true at all - but I suppose I could post more regularly, however due to the sad lack of feedback I receive it is actually kind of hard to motivate myself into blibbering about nothingness. Yup.
Anyway, I decided to do some REVIEWS. Just because I feel like it. OK, so this post basically goes out to Coraline, my friends. A fantastic story about a girl who feels neglected that journeys through a door in her house to another world - exactly like her own, only better in every way imaginable. Coraline is wowed by this other world, and her "other mother" and "other father," both whom shower her with love and attention! It's a marvellous adventure; until she discovers that all is not as it appears to be.
By the way, Coraline is not scary. Well, no, it might be. I suppose if you are afraid of dolls, and jumping mice, and dopplegangers and 'menacing themes'......... It's a story where the more grown up you are, the scarier it seems, I think. So child yourselves and watch/read it! It gives you the chills, a bit, I reckon. IT'S AWESOME! It's definitely worth your time, I promise :)
(Following contains quotes and hints, but no actual spoilers)
CORALINE: the book
Just this week I read Neil Gaiman's Coraline. It was a pretty lucky that I saw it in the library, because I had no idea that Coraline was originally a novel. And wow, it's unlike anything I've ever read before. Completely unique - it seems to have been written for kids...but is it really? The language is so simple, so immensly easy to read. It doesn't waste time on long, flowery descriptions, leaving a lot to your imagination - yet it's been so expertly written to really produce a thrilling, disturbing effect. My favourite thing, was that in the book, you can find so many creepy and cool excerpts that really just stick with you:
'Why does she want me?' Coraline asked the cat. 'Why does she want me to stay here with her?'
'She wants something to love, I think,' said the cat. 'Something that isn't her. She might want something to eat as well. It's hard to tell with creatures like that.'
'Darling,' said the woman. 'Why did you ever run away from me?'
'But how can you walk away from something and still come back to it?'
'Easy,' said the cat. 'Think of somebody walking around the world. You start out walking away from something and end up coming back to it.'
'Small world,' said Coraline.
'I swear it,' said the other mother. 'I swear it on my own mother's grave.'
'Does she have a grave?' asked Coraline.
'Oh yes,' said the other mother. 'I put her in there myself. And when I found her trying to crawl out, I put her back.'
Part of the odd thing, is that Coraline is mostly written from a third person dramatic/objective point of view (thank you, it appears I might have learned something in English class after all). So a lot of the time, we aren't given Coraline's thoughts and feelings - only her actions and words. Kind of weird when you hear another character make a creepy statement, and you can only imagine how you would feel in Coraline's position. That is the beauty of this book, I think. TES described the novel as 'Alice with attitude in a dark, creepy, graphically described Wonderland.' I have to agree with this completely, and say that Coraline is an incredible work of literature. I would absolutely recommend! 4/5 stars
CORALINE: the movie
I first watched Coraline online (yes, yes, I am an evil child. But now I have it on DVD!) and I really wasn't sure what to think of it. It reminded me a lot of nightmares I used to have about being in an alternate universe where things and people were like normal, only srangely twisted, warped and menacing. They scared me. But after the second or third time watching the movie, you know, I just appreciated how great it was! One of those rare times I enjoy the movie more than the book; Coraline is a masterpiece. Using stop motion animation and creating a whole world in miniature (I think), it must have taken years to make. The visual effects, music, screenplay and voices are superb. It stays pretty faithful to the book - although it does add and take (added the character Wybie, which I'm glad they did) and it is an amazing interpretation. I love it, I love it, I love it! 4.5/5 stars
CORALINE: the ds game
Unfortunately, this game does little justice to the movie. The graphics are ok, but then I guess Nintendo DS games aren't famed for their amazing graphics. Anyway, that aside, I enjoyed being able to explore the Pink Palace - you can really look at the rooms and see a more detailed layout of the house that you weren't offered in the film - but the actual gameplay is rather lousy. The game gets off to a boring start, where your purpose is unclear and eventually you get bored of running up and down exploring the same rooms over and over again without really knowing what to do. After completing the beginning though, the game does get better, however only slightly. You can unlock different outfits for Coraline - which is pretty cool. The best part of the game is when you transide from her normal world to the other world. That was some pretty good work there. I just went 'WOW.' The music changed, the entire screen transformed into something more colourful, bright and appealing. All the boring rooms were beautifully decorated, and the whole world looked beautiful. The other world was great - forget Coraline being drawn to it - I was totally wanting to play my DS in the other world forever and ever! So that was a good aspect of the game - however the rest of the game is filled with boring, pointless mini games and activites that seem placed there just for the sake of having a 'game' in the game. These include 'squash the bugs in the bathroom' where you tap the screen to squash bugs, 'run away from the nightmare' where you have to tap her "nightmares" away and 'can you turn the key?!' where you merely touch the keyhole. So all in all, the game is pretty average, and that's stretching toward the lousy average. It's quite short - I was able to complete the game in under four hours. Good for a bit of addictive, lazy gameplay but if you're someone who goes and buys Nintendo DS games - I wouldn't recommend this game, it looks like a game just made to make money off the movie, and it's not worth the amount you'll be asked to pay for it. 2/5 stars.
The other day someone said I only blog once a month. Actually, that's not true at all - but I suppose I could post more regularly, however due to the sad lack of feedback I receive it is actually kind of hard to motivate myself into blibbering about nothingness. Yup.
Anyway, I decided to do some REVIEWS. Just because I feel like it. OK, so this post basically goes out to Coraline, my friends. A fantastic story about a girl who feels neglected that journeys through a door in her house to another world - exactly like her own, only better in every way imaginable. Coraline is wowed by this other world, and her "other mother" and "other father," both whom shower her with love and attention! It's a marvellous adventure; until she discovers that all is not as it appears to be.
By the way, Coraline is not scary. Well, no, it might be. I suppose if you are afraid of dolls, and jumping mice, and dopplegangers and 'menacing themes'......... It's a story where the more grown up you are, the scarier it seems, I think. So child yourselves and watch/read it! It gives you the chills, a bit, I reckon. IT'S AWESOME! It's definitely worth your time, I promise :)
(Following contains quotes and hints, but no actual spoilers)
CORALINE: the book
Just this week I read Neil Gaiman's Coraline. It was a pretty lucky that I saw it in the library, because I had no idea that Coraline was originally a novel. And wow, it's unlike anything I've ever read before. Completely unique - it seems to have been written for kids...but is it really? The language is so simple, so immensly easy to read. It doesn't waste time on long, flowery descriptions, leaving a lot to your imagination - yet it's been so expertly written to really produce a thrilling, disturbing effect. My favourite thing, was that in the book, you can find so many creepy and cool excerpts that really just stick with you:
'Why does she want me?' Coraline asked the cat. 'Why does she want me to stay here with her?'
'She wants something to love, I think,' said the cat. 'Something that isn't her. She might want something to eat as well. It's hard to tell with creatures like that.'
'Darling,' said the woman. 'Why did you ever run away from me?'
'But how can you walk away from something and still come back to it?'
'Easy,' said the cat. 'Think of somebody walking around the world. You start out walking away from something and end up coming back to it.'
'Small world,' said Coraline.
'I swear it,' said the other mother. 'I swear it on my own mother's grave.'
'Does she have a grave?' asked Coraline.
'Oh yes,' said the other mother. 'I put her in there myself. And when I found her trying to crawl out, I put her back.'
Part of the odd thing, is that Coraline is mostly written from a third person dramatic/objective point of view (thank you, it appears I might have learned something in English class after all). So a lot of the time, we aren't given Coraline's thoughts and feelings - only her actions and words. Kind of weird when you hear another character make a creepy statement, and you can only imagine how you would feel in Coraline's position. That is the beauty of this book, I think. TES described the novel as 'Alice with attitude in a dark, creepy, graphically described Wonderland.' I have to agree with this completely, and say that Coraline is an incredible work of literature. I would absolutely recommend! 4/5 stars
CORALINE: the movie
CORALINE: the ds game
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaarrgghhh! Oh my GOSH!!!!
OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH MMMY GOODNESS!!!!!!!
I'm so excited I can hardly type. The preview for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I has been released!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Check it out here.
WOW. YAY! HUZZAH!
I think I might actually faint from happiness.
I'm so excited I can hardly type. The preview for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I has been released!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Check it out here.
WOW. YAY! HUZZAH!
I think I might actually faint from happiness.
Monday, 7 June 2010
Is it possible that I have been outwitted by a search engine?
Dear loyal readers,
I have decided to format this blog as a letter in preparation of my English exam, even though I've already sat the writing and reading exam and only have the viewing (in which the chances of me having to write a letter are pretty slim) left to go, but oh well. I see that I have already made a mistake by not putting 'loyal readers' with capital letters. Only now that I've pointed it out, I can't change it without creating confusion.
Never mind.
What I would really like to complain about is the mysterious case of the vanishing Google.
As you may or may not know, I have a slight semi-obsession for finding 'special googles' and posting them to this blog. So today I tried to get onto Google...only where was it? Google had disappeared! But then when I checked back it was gone! Now what is up with that?
It's a good thing I practice constance vigilance and snapped this snippet of my internet explorer as evidence:
See? Now all I have to do is found out where google went in those missing minutes. Gone for a bathroom break, I suppose.
OH and I wanted you guys to see this too:
I don't know who knows about what knows about me, but anyway, I have a real thing for owls and clocks. So when I saw the above picture picture - the two rolled into one!!!- my eyeballs nearly gauged out and I nearly fainted with jealousy.
That is all.
Yes. That, um, should be it.
wait. I forgot. This is a letter, so...
Yours sincerely,
Harris.
ps. Yes, I did copy Kendra with the whole making your name big at the end of the post thing. Forgive me :)
I have decided to format this blog as a letter in preparation of my English exam, even though I've already sat the writing and reading exam and only have the viewing (in which the chances of me having to write a letter are pretty slim) left to go, but oh well. I see that I have already made a mistake by not putting 'loyal readers' with capital letters. Only now that I've pointed it out, I can't change it without creating confusion.
Never mind.
What I would really like to complain about is the mysterious case of the vanishing Google.
As you may or may not know, I have a slight semi-obsession for finding 'special googles' and posting them to this blog. So today I tried to get onto Google...only where was it? Google had disappeared! But then when I checked back it was gone! Now what is up with that?
It's a good thing I practice constance vigilance and snapped this snippet of my internet explorer as evidence:
See? Now all I have to do is found out where google went in those missing minutes. Gone for a bathroom break, I suppose.
OH and I wanted you guys to see this too:
I don't know who knows about what knows about me, but anyway, I have a real thing for owls and clocks. So when I saw the above picture picture - the two rolled into one!!!- my eyeballs nearly gauged out and I nearly fainted with jealousy.
That is all.
Yes. That, um, should be it.
wait. I forgot. This is a letter, so...
Yours sincerely,
Harris.
ps. Yes, I did copy Kendra with the whole making your name big at the end of the post thing. Forgive me :)
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Welcome back winter once again
Happy June everyone!
Oh wait. My maths book just loaded. Guess I'll just have to... catch you guys later!
I know everyone's saying it...but this year really is going fast! In just 30 days we'll be halfway through the year and celebrating because of the EOFYS! And I still remember being so proud of posting at exactly 12 o'clock midnight on news years' day: "HAPPY NEW YEAR." Well, actually, I was about 9 minutes off as I recall, but oh well, perfection is boring.
Anyway, here I am, studying for exams and such. Well, I'm waiting for a virtual copy of my maths book to download which my friend so kindly sent me since my copy of the maths book has mysteriously vanished just in time for the exam. NOT in the mood to blog, yet I choose to anyway since I've really got nothing else better to do as my mind is currently preoccupied with trivial matters such as the whereabouts of my missing maths book and whether or not I can own a snowglobe without smashing it. Anyway, I thought I'd just write a poem about winter. I suck at poetry, by the way, so don't expect anything great.
Oh wait. My maths book just loaded. Guess I'll just have to... catch you guys later!
deviantart.com (c) ~ ycxu
And here's a random picture for your enjoyment.
ENJOY THE COLD, BRO.
Monday, 31 May 2010
Banksy
Saturday, 22 May 2010
the ultimate pacman
Pacman's 30th Birthday!
Seriously, this has got to be the coolest special google ever. Get onto google right now (because it probably won't be around tomorrow) and check it out! Not only does it look awesome, you can actually play it ;)
The socking no longer secret secret of 007
So there was a school social last Thursday. Whether or not I mentioned it before is actually quite irrelevant, because now you know. The theme was 007, and I rocked up in a tuxedo because I'm awesome (or because it was the only way to bail out of wearing a dress and looking like a mega prat). Well, it doesn't really matter - because I got to dance with all my beautiful mates and go kind of high on coke and red lollies =D
Anyway, so before I left the house I started hunting around for a pair of white socks - because I thought it'd match the black/white style outfit. And it was one of those convenient days when you actually need something and it's decided to play master level hide and seek. It was then that I actually realized that you wouldn't even be able to see what socks I would be wearing anyway. For all anyone knew, I could have worn my fluffy green socks with the skid proof bottoms or my stripey knee high socks under my pants and shoes and they would be none the wiser.
So if I can get away with wearing any socks in the world - what do the real 007 actors get away with?
Did Sean Connery indulge in silky socks with little bows?
Did David Niven wear poca dotted high socks?
Did George Lazenby secretly cherish toe socks?
Perhaps Roger Moore always had holes in his socks?
Anyway, so before I left the house I started hunting around for a pair of white socks - because I thought it'd match the black/white style outfit. And it was one of those convenient days when you actually need something and it's decided to play master level hide and seek. It was then that I actually realized that you wouldn't even be able to see what socks I would be wearing anyway. For all anyone knew, I could have worn my fluffy green socks with the skid proof bottoms or my stripey knee high socks under my pants and shoes and they would be none the wiser.
So if I can get away with wearing any socks in the world - what do the real 007 actors get away with?
Did Sean Connery indulge in silky socks with little bows?
Did David Niven wear poca dotted high socks?
Did George Lazenby secretly cherish toe socks?
Perhaps Roger Moore always had holes in his socks?
Or maybe Timothy Dalton liked socks with small plush animals stitched onto the sides?
Pierce Brosnan... perhaps he had a pair of MUSICAL socks? (although for all our sakes, let's just hope he didn't have socks which sung his own voice)
And Daniel Craig? How do we know what dark secrets he's hiding behind those shiny, polished shoes?
Food for thought =D
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