I'm cold!!! Which is odd seeing as it's the middle of summer. Making it less odd is the fact that I've just been ice skating. And I know what you're thinking, Katherine,um... I don't mean to be rude, but you're an internet person and in case you haven't noticed, um... we as a general rule don't do well with the physical activity. To which I will state, it wasn't my idea. I did, however, feel very mighty duck-esk which was cool. But I think it would be nice to actually learn the proper way to ice skate seeing as I haven't done it in, oh, about 12 years. Which is alright seeing as I live in a climate that's pretty much perpetually summer (our winter is pretty much Englands summer, I'm not complaining).
Moving on to the next story. The other day we have our after camp dinner at sizzler. It was fun as the dress code was formal. We certainly brought a little bit of class to the establishment, before eating as much as we possibly could. When we were walking up to the place one of our captains pulled up beside us in a convertible,he got out looking very much like James Bond though slighty more Victorian. That night taught me about my new favourite historical person Jack Churchill . Just briefly he's responsible for the only confirmed kill by longbow in world war 2. He's pretty much as close as you can get to a real life Chuck Norris.
Other than that not much else has been happening. been going to work for a bit. going to Uni on monday. such is life.
Until next time.
Katherine
Friday, February 26, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Neil Gaiman and Scott Westerfeld
Neil Gaiman comics are beautiful, in the ‘I’m freaking scared but oh my goodness this is freaking beautiful’ kind of way. I love the way he writes. Now, I know I’d probably enjoy the Sandman series more if I read them in the correct order but I’m an impatient reader, I’ll take it in whatever order the library seems fit to stock it in.
I used to think (like as late as 20 minutes ago) that illustrators made Neil Gaiman comics but alas like most things in life, I was wrong. I think I based my theory from obsessing about ‘Delirium’ from Endless Nights. That there, that gets to you, endless nights just blew my mind.
The first Neil Gaiman comic I read was ‘World’s end’ in which ‘mr smiley’ still haunts me. That’s what I love about his work, it stays with you. It just portrays feelings so well. Delirium my darling.
Speaking of blowing my mind (from back there a little bit). The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. Genius. And don’t get me started on Extras. By which I mean, now, I’m going to talk about it. It’s fantastic it’s every fan of anything’s dream, to have an established story and for the author to just twist it slightly and take it in a whole new mind blowing direction. It’s like the best fanfiction ever written (I don’t read fanfcition*) because it’s written by the author. And, And!!! The parallels between modern life. I’ve never read a book that soooo emulates MY world. The whole thing is a commentary on youtube and what could happen if we let it run our lives. That’s what I get out of it. Of course there’s the whole hysterical media (hysterical media???) aspect which is probably a better analogy.
But let me get back to Uglies, I love how it turns out. Her battle for her own mind. I was very confused when she finally said enough, stop messing with my mind. Initially I thought that was just how they had programmed her to think, you know, like how the body doesn’t reject aluminium, they tried to make it so her mind wouldn’t reject the new way it was wired. But, it’s even more respectful that she didn’t let them mess with her again. She has to keep fighting to remain herself. And even if it’s not who she was at the beginning, how could she have gone back after everything she’s been through. It’s like getting true life experiences and going back to being naive. It doesn’t work.
The writing style almost threw me. It took me until nearly the end of Uglies to decide I was going to read the series. It’s a bit slow to start off with and it’s akin to ‘His Dark Materials’ and ‘Inkheart’ which I am yet to finish. I will tell you time and again that those books throw me. It’s no secret. I’m a simple child. I can take on ideas, they just have to be presented in a ‘for the masses’ kind of way.
Ok back to Neil Gaiman. Reading over this, I can’t quite remember why I had such a rapid change of opinion about the writing of Neil Gaiman comics. And good for me, I failed to say why while I could still remember. One reason I can think of, however, is that in ‘Dream Country’ there’s a section at the back that is the script, and he puts in little things that he wants the illustrator to draw, which is just fantastic.
Segue. I just discovered the complete graphic novel section in my local book store. For months I was surprised at how small it was, cause ‘my local book store’ translates into ‘Borders’ and it’s massive. Well anyway, they keep the DC and the Marvel comics on different sides of the shelf and I’d never looked at the other side. ‘Cause I’m like that. Well, obviously I thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world.
Anyway, I’ve been debating with myself what makes a good graphic novel. ‘Cause I guess you could say that Gaiman’s work is a little weird and I’m sure it’s not for everyone. Hmmmm.... I think I’d like to read some people’s opinions on the matter, remind me to do that. And while I still have no idea what does make a good graphic novel, I appreciate when thought has gone into how you are wanting to present the story you are telling. I want to see if you have a mastery of your medium. I, of course, am just the audience, I don’t expect perfection but little flashes of brilliance (or just stuff I like and gets stuck in my head), well, it gets to me and i like to think, I get it.
I’ve started reading ‘Watchmen’ and I feel like reading it along with the movie because I just keep seeing the movie in my head (I’ve only seen it once, mind (get it, mind, see what I did there, ok... stopping) which is probably not the greatest thing to be doing so I kind of want to just give in to my curiosity and see what bits are the same and what are different and see if you could use the comic to story board the movie.
Well, that’s all from me.
Until next time,
Katherine
*here’s why http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA_VSQqn32M
I used to think (like as late as 20 minutes ago) that illustrators made Neil Gaiman comics but alas like most things in life, I was wrong. I think I based my theory from obsessing about ‘Delirium’ from Endless Nights. That there, that gets to you, endless nights just blew my mind.
The first Neil Gaiman comic I read was ‘World’s end’ in which ‘mr smiley’ still haunts me. That’s what I love about his work, it stays with you. It just portrays feelings so well. Delirium my darling.
Speaking of blowing my mind (from back there a little bit). The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. Genius. And don’t get me started on Extras. By which I mean, now, I’m going to talk about it. It’s fantastic it’s every fan of anything’s dream, to have an established story and for the author to just twist it slightly and take it in a whole new mind blowing direction. It’s like the best fanfiction ever written (I don’t read fanfcition*) because it’s written by the author. And, And!!! The parallels between modern life. I’ve never read a book that soooo emulates MY world. The whole thing is a commentary on youtube and what could happen if we let it run our lives. That’s what I get out of it. Of course there’s the whole hysterical media (hysterical media???) aspect which is probably a better analogy.
But let me get back to Uglies, I love how it turns out. Her battle for her own mind. I was very confused when she finally said enough, stop messing with my mind. Initially I thought that was just how they had programmed her to think, you know, like how the body doesn’t reject aluminium, they tried to make it so her mind wouldn’t reject the new way it was wired. But, it’s even more respectful that she didn’t let them mess with her again. She has to keep fighting to remain herself. And even if it’s not who she was at the beginning, how could she have gone back after everything she’s been through. It’s like getting true life experiences and going back to being naive. It doesn’t work.
The writing style almost threw me. It took me until nearly the end of Uglies to decide I was going to read the series. It’s a bit slow to start off with and it’s akin to ‘His Dark Materials’ and ‘Inkheart’ which I am yet to finish. I will tell you time and again that those books throw me. It’s no secret. I’m a simple child. I can take on ideas, they just have to be presented in a ‘for the masses’ kind of way.
Ok back to Neil Gaiman. Reading over this, I can’t quite remember why I had such a rapid change of opinion about the writing of Neil Gaiman comics. And good for me, I failed to say why while I could still remember. One reason I can think of, however, is that in ‘Dream Country’ there’s a section at the back that is the script, and he puts in little things that he wants the illustrator to draw, which is just fantastic.
Segue. I just discovered the complete graphic novel section in my local book store. For months I was surprised at how small it was, cause ‘my local book store’ translates into ‘Borders’ and it’s massive. Well anyway, they keep the DC and the Marvel comics on different sides of the shelf and I’d never looked at the other side. ‘Cause I’m like that. Well, obviously I thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world.
Anyway, I’ve been debating with myself what makes a good graphic novel. ‘Cause I guess you could say that Gaiman’s work is a little weird and I’m sure it’s not for everyone. Hmmmm.... I think I’d like to read some people’s opinions on the matter, remind me to do that. And while I still have no idea what does make a good graphic novel, I appreciate when thought has gone into how you are wanting to present the story you are telling. I want to see if you have a mastery of your medium. I, of course, am just the audience, I don’t expect perfection but little flashes of brilliance (or just stuff I like and gets stuck in my head), well, it gets to me and i like to think, I get it.
I’ve started reading ‘Watchmen’ and I feel like reading it along with the movie because I just keep seeing the movie in my head (I’ve only seen it once, mind (get it, mind, see what I did there, ok... stopping) which is probably not the greatest thing to be doing so I kind of want to just give in to my curiosity and see what bits are the same and what are different and see if you could use the comic to story board the movie.
Well, that’s all from me.
Until next time,
Katherine
*here’s why http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA_VSQqn32M
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