I miss you, babe. Like Pig in the City.

I broke my favorite mug, and a part of my soul chipped away with it.

R.I.P Beauty and the Beast Mug, 2003 - 2014

Everyone has a mug that is their mug, and this one was mine. It was perfect! Everything from the size to the thickness to the curvature of the rim... And then I dropped it.

I guess it just never occurred to me that I would ever be in a situation without that mug. It's one of the reminders of my past that I really thought would always be there. Only now it isn't. It was like drinking out of memories. I like my other mugs but they aren't steeped in the memories of my past the way that this one is. Not yet, anyway. It may seem silly, and in fact it may be silly to feel so strongly about the loss of a mug, but it really meant a lot to me. When I dropped it I sat on the floor and cried for a while. This blog is quickly turning into TMI with seasonings of regret for Older Ronnie. But isn't that what blogs are for? Yeah!

I decided that I couldn't throw away my mug. So I didn't.

YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL. NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY.

I would give you a life update, but breaking my beloved Disney mug is a pretty good representation of what it's been like lately. Very hard, lots of work, but unlike my mug, I'm getting through it alright. One thing that did happen was that my organization ran an event about one of the upper year ASCI courses at Guelph, and it was fantastic! More than ever, I know I can't wait to take that course. It's called the Honours Research Seminar and you essentially make this huge 40+ page paper about a research topic that combines your minors. It's meant to be like a lead-up to graduate school, which is of course, perfect! We'll see how this changes in the next year, but right now I want to write about how the environment has impacted the work of science fiction authors. Specifically I'd like to look at how their portrayal of the environment has changed over time to suit societal perceptions. Obviously that's just a rough idea right now, and I'm sure it'll get more specific and/or change entirely by the time winter 2015 rolls around (like maybe the environment on alien worlds vs. our own or something? Or how it's specifically handled by women writers, or those from a scientific background?), but for now I just can't wait!

Man O' Steel Review - Superman is a super man.

Either superhero movies are getting better and better or my standards for them are crumbling to the point where spandex is all I need for contentment. For the sake of my pride I'll go with the former explanation and say that with so many of these movies zipping out of the box office lately, filmmakers everywhere have really gotten it down to an art.

 

As far as my personal background on the topic goes, I do need to make a few things clear. First of all I am in no way an expert on comics, especially on the Superman canon. Only in the past three years or so have I been inching my way into the land of comic books, so while I do like to think that I know significantly more than the average Joe, this is likely the pinnacle of my achievements in the field. Give me time! For right now understand that this review comes from a comic book novice, essentially.

For what it's worth, and without further ado, I give you my very own impression of Man of Steel...

I enjoyed Man of Steel. Part of the reason has to be my feelings walking into it, which is a factor I believe to be massively important in terms of determining movie enjoyment. Prior to my seeing the film, the rumor mill seemed to be communicating a very negative vibe for the movie, so my expectations upon seeing it were very low, which is the best mindset with which to see a movie (provided that your expectations aren't stubborn enough to discourage enjoyment). I do think this made it easy for the Man of Steel to soar above my expectations. I can understand how people may have been let down by this movie, but I was expecting, for whatever reason, garbage. I never even liked Superman. I didn't know enough about him to base an opinion.

So, in a long winded fashion, I enjoyed the film. But why?

Well, I really liked what this movie did with a character that everybody knows. Despite my having just explained that I know nothing about Superman, general public knowledge includes a lot of information regarding the character and his world. He's iconic, which is a hard, hard thing to represent effectively, and I think that Henry Cavil deserves all of the props for this one. He was inspiring and believable as Superman, which is quite an accomplishment. I liked that Henry Cavil played a very mature and grown up Clark Kent who was trying to figure out what was going on. The story jumps in at a very nice point in his life where he is still trying to understand himself but also gleefully past the emotional turmoil of whiney puberty. He was also beautiful and enormous, but that's not really significant to the artsy, filmy quality of the picture.

That artsy, filmy stuff was part of the next thing I was impressed by, and what first turned me on to the idea of a good Superman movie - the look of the movie. Man of Steel looks really, really good. Krypton looks fantastic, and in particular, the Kryptonian armor was really neat, but number one has to be the environments. Being able to fly made it so that this movie sort of seemed to go everywhere very fast, but at the moments where it paused the visuals were astounding, especially in space. It was a visual delight to see this film.

I also discovered two things that really attached me to Superman as a character. The first was a wonderful little irony that I can only hope is present in the comics; I got the impression that almost all things associated with Krypton are detrimental to Superman. It's like his home and his people that he's been longing for are his Kryptonite. As I said earlier, I don't know very much about Superman at all, and I don't know what Kryptonite actually is other than a green rock, but if it turns out to just be anything from Krypton, then that is just a beautiful, tragic, and almost Shakespearean kind of plot device. His home is poison to him. I get tingles just thinking about it. Imagine what that must do to him? Storytelling delight!

The second was that because he can do anything and has essentially no weaknesses (while on Earth), the movie turns their greatest dilemmas away from whether or not Superman can do something - he's Superman, of course he can - to whether or not he should. To be honest after some reflection I think this was my imagination a little bit. The movie does focus heavily on whether or not he can accomplish this or that mighty feat, but there are definite moments peaking through where they put their mind to what I think is always the more interesting avenue - the moral dilemma. It's the best part of Star Trek, and I think it may be the best part of Superman. It was wonderful. They presented our hero with a choice that had no good outcome, and in the end he made a choice that was a little bit good and a little bit horrible which he now has to live with. I didn't get the feeling that this was hugely what they were going for in the movie, rather I think their intention was to justify the actions of the villains, but I think it was possibly the best part of the plot, or at the very least the most pleasantly disconcerting. Again, storytelling tingles of delight.

One last thing that I have to mention is the really interestingly significant role that Superman's biological father (played by Russell Crowe - me loves Russell Crowe) had in the movie. They had to bring him in for introductions, explanations, and the only hope of anyone understanding what was going on with the alien technologies. All in all, it sounds like an awkward, all-knowing, convenient plot device sort of role, but they nailed it. Russell Crowe does a lovely job and they take advantage of his super-acting to explain everything from Superman's weird Kryptonian name to the things that are usually the most difficult for super hero movies to explain without becoming childish, the suit. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.

There were downsides, of course. In particular what bothered me is a continuation of the annoying habit these movies have for really atrocious one-liners. Thor was bad for this, and Superman is no better. The line between funny, witty, and just plain painful is apparently difficult to grasp. I imagine these lines are designed to show a "real-world" reaction to men in suits flying around, but they just feel very unnecessary and I consider them to be a very cheap shot at humor. I think the best way to show the difference between nice, classy, witty lines and these atrocious assaults to the ears is to compare the "I think he's hot" line (which I may not be quoting accurately, but you'll spot it in the film as the point where I sincerely hope you cringe a few undesirables snicker) compared to Lois' "welcome to The Planet," line. One is terrible. The other is not. It may seem as though I'm making a lot of fuss for a very small thing but I can't help it, because these lines really will ruin, perhaps not a whole movie, but certainly a scene. As evidence I invite you to think back to the embarrassingly painful "oh my god" moment of Thor. That is not good writing.

On the whole I hope this review gives you reason to check out the movie, because if you do enjoy super movies I think you'll enjoy this one. Particularly if you've never been fond of or just generally ignorant regarding the Man of Steel, this movie may do for you as it has done for me, and open up the character in a new and interesting light which I look forward to seeing again.

STAR WARS Identified... With Twi'leks!

I went to the STAR WARS: Identities exhibit at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum last week! I heard about the exhibit in March, so the excitement as been building up for a while now and I'm happy to say that I really enjoyed it! If you're in the Ottawa area I highly recommend the trip out to see it (and if you aren't in the Ottawa area, the exhibit should be heading to other cities soon).

Top among my favorites at the exhibit was Anakin's podracer from The Phantom Menace. Big and impressive props are always a winner for me. I think scale is my favorite thing about movie or television related exhibits. I love being able to stand in front of the podracer and appreciate how large it actually is, or discover that Chewbaca is in fact ridiculously tall. How did he even fit into that cockpit. I don't know. In any case, seeing them in person is like creating a new moment or a new experience with something that's been with you for a long time, which, for many of these guys, means as far back as I can remember. Plus podracers are totally awesome.

Of course one of the best experiences was going face to face with the actual Yoda. One of the things I noticed when we got home and (naturally) started to watch all of the movies, was that there weren't any cool things from the gungans, or the new clone troopers (aside from a few neat concept drawings/sculptures), because of course, there are essentially no props. You can't come face to face with  Jar Jar because he never had a face outside of a screen. So I think we can officially list the lack of physical props as another negative of relying too heavily on CGI. I'm not going to attack the prequels, but I do think that puppetry is the way to go for realism, and puppetry with CGI enhancements might be even better.

They have Jaba's eyes. Just his eyes. Apparently that's all that's left of the enormous puppet built for Return of the Jedi. There's just these two big eyes on sticks, staring at you. I found them so incredibly cool, and I think they might have been my favorite thing in the whole exhibition. I don't know why, but my mind just keeps going back to them.

They still have his eyes.

I feel obligated by eight-year-old Ronnie to mention Padme's clothes. They only had three of her outfits, and my pictures didn't really come out (in my defense, lighting was shit and I was, according to my family, "taking way too long") but I still loved loved loved this. I can't be the only one who derived at least part of my love of Star Wars from the pretty outfits. They had so many clothes. It was so pretty. We're talking Leia's slave outfit (which included cute little boots I've never noticed before!), Leia's Hoth outfit, Padme's ceremony gown from Phantom Menace, her Attack of the Clones outfit (with wicked-awesome poncho wrap thing), and a random but gorgeous senator outfit. They didn't have Leia's Bespin outfit, which is, for whatever reason, my favorite. And  they didn't have Padme's classic red gown/headdress or Leia's classic white outfit, which was odd. But still. So pretty. I was so happy. I said earlier that I wasn't going to attack the prequels (even if, perhaps, I should) because one thing that the exhibit did remind me of was that I loved all of the Star Wars movies growing up. Phantom Menace came out when my brother's and I were kids, and we loved them. We didn't care that there was an annoying kid, or that the plot made little to no sense, or that none of the characters had any depth whatsoever. It was still Star Wars and we loved every second of it.

The exhibition does cost a pretty penny to get in, but if you're a fan of the series then I think it'll be worth the money to see some really cool stuff. : )

The 'Identities' part of the exhibit relates to the interactive activity they had were you 'build' your own Star Wars character. I really liked it! It was essentially a real-life self-insert, and I wish they had this for everything. Everything. It also reminded me of why Star Wars: The Old Republic is so much fun - because you're immersing yourself in that wonderful universe. You started off by choosing your species, and they recorded all of your choices in a bracelet you wore throughout so that at the end, you could see your character and their bio which was emailed to you. Naturally, I was a Twi'lek. I think we can officially say that a new life-goal is to write a book centered around the life of a Twi'lek. Anyway, as you went through the exhibit you chose your characters skills, upbringing-style, planet of origin (Bespin, of course), mentor, occupation, friendships, as well as other things, and ultimately you had to choose whether or not you would align yourself with the dark or light side of the force. My family and I mutually agreed that it would have been way cooler if the exhibit took all of your choices and told you what side of the force you came out on, but it was a really neat activity all the same. Check out Onnie-Ka, my Twi'lek senator. Because senators can be cool too.

Even Better Than the Iron Maiden Song - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I'm hoping to add a little more content to this blog and thought that diving into the world of reviews was a good place to start. It's another one of those things that I've just always wanted to do. : )

The concept for these reviews is to keep them short and sweet. I'll touch on a few quick ideas regarding the novel, and hopefully inspire some of you to pick it up. I will also endeavor to keep the posts free of spoilers, so I will never go into detail about the plot, though I will discuss the setting. I'll post a review as frequently as I read a new book, which you're about to discover is really not as frequent as it ought to be for an English Student.

Without further ado, I give you review number one!

A few days ago I read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, which is a book that doesn't really need an introduction, but I'll give you one anyway. The classic science fiction novel shows a dystopian world where people are not born, but decanted from bottles. People are segregated  into a strict and genetically-enforced caste system while the World Controllers work to keep us all in an infantile state of blind happiness through drugs, sex, and other base pleasures. Already sounds like something I'd pick up in an instant, but as you undoubtedly know, what makes this dystopian society so interesting are the striking similarities with  our own world today. The thought is that Huxley's predictions are actually coming true.

This is a fantastic thought to have in your head as you read. It creates an atmosphere of panic and urgency around the novel. What if you're reading the future? Obviously that's the question any good dystopian wants to ask, but Brave New World is one of the few which has been receiving answers in the affirmative. The novel  starts off with the aspect of society that I suspect may have been the most outlandish when the book was first published in 1932 - the Hatcheries and Conditioning Centres, specifically the fertilizing of an egg artificially and without sex. This is wonderful. You start off reading this book that's supposed to tell the future and the first thing it does is succeed. It's enough to get you started, to get you thinking, and even to get you believing it for a little while.

This beginning of the novel is fantastic, but not just because of the science - which falters, as it is wont to do in science fiction, but not out of this world. I should actually talk about the science a bit. As a biology student at university, I do notice and appreciate when a novel grounds it's ideas of new technologies in actual science. This gives science fiction, and particularly dystopias, that semblance of realism the readers need to really believe it. Huxley mastered this trick, and everything that he comes up with (if it hasn't already come to pass) is grounded in real discoveries and well-known science fact. The biologist in you will appreciate his imaginings in the hatcheries, and the psychologist in you will get a real kick out of what he does in the conditioning centres, and there are many more examples of this as the book goes on to expand on the world. But as I mentioned, this is not the only reason why the introduction to the novel is brilliant, it's also because of Huxley's style, which is clever and sneaky and cruel when it wants to be. I found endless enjoyment at how the introduction that seems to introduce the world is also introducing the main characters of the tale. There's a part where he switches between about three or four different scenes constantly, at times sentence by sentence, but he keeps it together so well and uses it to make his point in so creative a manner that I think it might be my favorite part of the book. (I've written a multi-scene scene kind of thing before, but nothing like what he did with it. Entirely going to try and bring some of that into my own writing.)

Another one of my favorite things is the huge part played by the works of Shakespeare. It's hard to go wrong when you incorporate the Bard, but 'Brave New World' (actually a quote from The Tempest - how did I not know this??) did some really neat things with his influence and the timeless quality of his works.

It's a very quick read, as the book isn't terribly long, so I definitely recommend it for a summer afternoon. I consider myself to be a slow reader and it took me two afternoons and a morning. As to whether or not it actually tells the future… perhaps not. I'm too much of an optimist to buy into it completely. However there are a few things in there that I could easily see coming about, along with a few things that already have, and a few that are too horrible and too possible for comfort, which is great.

This is one of those books that's been sitting on my to-read shelf for what seems like forever, so if any of you are in a similar position I can confidently tell you that the next time you browse for a new title, I hope your finger lands on Brave New World.