Internet Awesomeness 8

More awesomeness from the internets!!!

1) I've loved Kirby Krackle's song Ring Capacity for about a year now. It tells the story of Green Lantern's origins and a battle with Sinestro plus it's super catchy. I was really hoping it would be the song for the new Green Lantern film, but it sadly wasn't. Fortunately, we can all still enjoy their awesome video and hope maybe the next nerd film will feature a song of theirs.

2) One of my favorite Evelyn Evelyn songs is Sandy Fishnets, but it seems to be kind of an ignored song because it's depressing and disturbing. Vince Mascoli made an animated video for the song that I thoroughly enjoy in a simple mostly monochromatic color palate. My favorite part is the ocean sequence which has vibrant colors and a completely different style to greatly differentiate the fantasy world from their bleak reality.

3) Neil Gaiman is awesome. period. So when he makes a video threatening war with Britain if the Onion doesn't get a Pulitzer prize, it's by default awesome. He comes off so crazily charming.

4) This video by Jackson Pearce, author of Sisters Red and the upcoming Sweetly, is made of win. She frankly describes the ridiculousness of the gay marriage debate and urges people to use their voices and make their opinions heard. Gay marriage is now legal in New York (YAY!) which is surprising considering it's a Republican controlled state. Hopefully other states will follow and prove that the Constitution actually matters.

Hope you enjoyed the awesomeness for this week!

Boyfriend from Hell

Megan Barnett is best friends with her mother, Suze and they do practically everything together. They start to drift apart when Suze decides to starts dating for the first time in ten years. Megan is utterly humiliated at the prospect of her own mother having a boyfriend before her. Not only that, but her two best friends, Matt and Erin, have decided to date too. Awkward! Then two mysterious men enter the Barnett women's lives. First, there's Guy Matson, Megan's new classmate: supremely hot and able to miraculously be a nerdy Mathlete and still retain a high level of cool. Next is Armando, the handsome art dealer Suze meets by chance. He's attractive, but something is a little bit off with him and Megan decides to investigate. One of them is Satan and Megan has to figure out which before either she or her mother gets dragged to Hell. Is it even possible to defeat Satan?

Boyfriend from Hell is obviously a paranormal novel, but it's grounded in reality and deals with situations that everyone can relate to. It was the normal, everyday aspects that kept me interested and reading because I had similar experiences when I was younger. Megan is a teenager and her relationships with all the important people in her life are changing. She suddenly has to deal with her mother's dating and the fact that she is no longer the sole focus of her mother's life. They used to be really close friends and now her inability to deal with the situation is putting a rift between them. Her friends Matt and Erin started dating and it puts a strain on their relationship with Megan. In both cases, Megan feels jealous and left out. Her life seems static while everyone changes and it makes her uncomfortable. The problems with her mother and her friends stems from her trying to deny and not acknowledge those feelings, which makes them grow and build until they explode over everything. Megan acts very childish and practically intolerable at first, but really matures and grows as a person by the end of the novel. I think everyone comes to a point where the relationship with their parents and friends changes just because of the nature of the transition from childhood to adulthood.

I really liked the supernatural and mystery aspects of the novel even though they weren't showcased until the last half of the novel. The devil and his creepy cult made for some good, but not too dark horror. I haven't read a lot of fiction where the devil is character that isn't over 100 years old, but the depiction of the devil was believable and dangerous without being over the top. This book had some twists and turns that I didn't expect, which is impressive. Not many books catch me off guard like that. The resolution was bittersweet and left a nice setup for the next novel, Earth Angel.

E. Van Lowe's fluid and masterful writing made this book one that I needed to finish. He captures the voice of a teenage girl authentically with Megan, flaws and all. I look forward to what's next for these characters in the next book, Earth Angel. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys young adult fiction.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins

TV Themes I'm Obsessed With

Amy Ratcliffe at Geek with Curves did a post about theme songs she just couldn't skip when she watched them on Netflix or on DVD when it's really easy to get tired of them. Of course I have to post my own (and steal 2 of them from her).

1) Lexx

If you haven't seen or heard of this show, it's not surprising. Lexx is a quirky, weird, Canadian science fiction show about a crew consisting of a dead man, a love slave/cluster lizard, and a robot head aboard a living ship and their adventures. About 2 summers ago, I watched all 4 seasons with one of my friends and I was always eager to hear the Brunnen G battle song. It's on Netflix (even though is censored which I abhor, but it's better than nothing). The first season is a little rough to get through because the effects are so bad, but it gets better as it goes along. The characters and story are always funny and interesting and I wish the series was longer.

2) Doctor Who

I first watched Tom Baker and Peter Davison as the Doctor and liked the cheesy and dated show. I recently started watching the revival of the series with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant as the Doctor. In the past few weeks, I've watched three and a half of the five and half seasons so far. I absolutely love this show and I feel excited and giddy every time I hear the theme. My favorite version of the theme is in the first and second season. If you haven't seen this show, I highly recommend it. The writing and acting is excellent and the effects get better as time goes on. The cast of characters is large and diverse and you're guaranteed to recognize some faces if you've seen any British TV or films at all.

3) Dollhouse

Dollhouse is a short lived TV show about an organization that rents people out with whatever personality desired for lots of money. Eliza Dushku really shined in this sci-fi show and I'm so disappointed it didn't get the chance to continue. The ramifications of the technology used to erase, create, and replace personalities in people was far reaching and a very interesting concept. The theme song is called What You Don't Know by Jonatha Brooke. It's a great song that works well for the show's concept and feel.

4) Firefly

Firefly is one of the best and underrated science fiction shows ever. Just watch the first episode and you're guaranteed to become addicted. It's only 14 episodes and 1 full length film long. This song is also one of the best themes. The lyrics, style, performance, everything is perfect. I can't get enough of it. It's one of the most played songs on my iPod.

5) True Blood

This show is a guilty pleasure of mine that I am both horrified and riveted by. It's pretty horrible, yet entertaining. The theme and the accompanying images really set the tone for the sleazy, creepy, sexy show. I don't really like country music, but the song really grew on me and I look forward to hearing it every time I watch an episode. I am looking forward to another season full of ridiculous story lines, bad acting, and creepy sex scenes.

So this is my list of shows that make it blasphemous to skip the theme songs. What about you guys? Any shows or theme songs you're obsessed with right now?

City of Bones

Clary Fray likes to frequent an all ages club, Pandemonium, with her friend (who emphatically does not) named Simon. On a night like any other, Clary witnesses three teens gang up on a fourth in a storage room. She tries to save the bullied boy, but he is killed and then disappears. Clary is understandably shocked. The boy is a demon and the other three are Shadowhunters, educated and trained to kill demons from a young age using magical weapons and runes. Shortly after this event, Clary's mother, Jocelyn, is kidnapped by a rouge Shadowhunter, Valentine. He seems to think that Jocelyn can lead him to the Mortal cup, a powerful artifact that can create more Shadowhunters, so he can wage war against all demons and half-demons to keep the human race pure. The goal is to make all humans Shadowhunters, but only about 20% of all of them would survive the change. Clary, along with Jace, Alec, and Isabelle, must find the cup before Valentine does and then rescue her mother. Can they succeed before Valentine finds the cup?

I have heard lots of good things about the Mortal Instruments series, so I just had to read what all the fuss is about. City of Bones didn't quite live up to it, but I definitely wasn't disappointed. I really liked the characters. Clary is plucky and brave despite being largely defenseless compared to the trained and prepared Shadowhunters. Not only that, but she's also pretty clever and quick to get used to the strange lives that Shadowhunters live. Of course she makes some mistakes and acts kind of annoying sometimes, mostly when acting rashly and not thinking of others. But that's to be expected with any character. I know there are a lot of Jace fangirls and Jace haters. I'm somewhere in the middle. At first I thought Jace was pretty horrible, but as the book went on, he revealed more and more of the person underneath that hardened outer shell. I felt sympathetic toward shim, but I was still annoyed by some of his over the top bad boy behavior. With what I had heard before, I was expecting Patch (from Hush, Hush) levels of bad behavior. I'm glad that he was far from that and actually likeable instead of just being a complete tool.

The story is pretty predictable and basic for the genre. The characters seem to be especially thick headed in figuring out the mysteries that are pretty obvious much earlier. A lot of the book was dedicated to explaining their world to Clary and by extension the reader: the rules, the runes, the demons, the half demons, etc. It's a little tedious to get through, but admittedly necessary to understanding the story. Hopefully the second book won't have so much of this since the reader would be more familiar with the world and characters.

I enjoyed all the adventure and secrets that City of Bones had to offer. It's like a cross between Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The action was exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat. The twist at the end is a little unexpected. I suspected it earlier, but dismissed it as being to weird for a teen book. I would recommend this book to fans of urban fantasy and similar teen books.

My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins

20 Years Later

In 2012, something happens that kills countless people, leaving London reduced to a graveyard littered with bones instead of a bustling city. Twenty years later, London is ruled by gangs that are constantly at war, pushing the boundaries on each other's territory and causing innocent people to get caught in the middle of their quarrels. Teenage Zane and his mother Miri have a garden in between two gangs, the Red Lady's Hunters and the Bloomsbury Boys. They treat the sick and wounded from both sides in return for being left alone, unaligned with either group. A new gang is introduced when a strange girl is kidnapped from the Bloomsbury Boys using lightning to stun them. Titus, the girl's brother, resolves to save her. He befriends Zane and a girl from the Red Lady's gang named Erin. Together, they discover their own unique powers and work together to save Titus' sister from the mysterious kidnappers.

20 Years Later is a good young adult post-apocalyptic story. The new world is dangerous and mysterious. The main characters in the novel are teens and they know very little about the event that destroyed the world as we know it. They don't know anything about life in the past. Electricity, makeup, and most modern amenities are alien to them. It seemed more like it should have been set a hundred years in the future. Somehow it made sense because most of the characters are teens who have only known this world. The adults are very close lipped about it and are more concerned about protecting the children instead of communicating or educating. I enjoyed the gang power struggle. This type of rule seems much more likely than one central government in the event of an apocalypse. Groups just carve out their own territory and fight to defend it until they lose and someone else takes over.

I really liked the main characters. Zane is an idealist with healing powers and a desire to become a doctor. He was a little too innocent for believability's sake, more like an eight year old than a fifteen year old. With all the blood and violence he sees on a fairly regular basis, I would think he would be more worldly and cynical. Titus fits worldly cynical very well. He doesn't hesitate to make hard decisions when they are necessary. His sister's safety is his first priority and he doesn't waver from his mission at all. Erin is also more experienced and hardened than Zane. Her father is the best Hunter in the Red Lady's army and she is training to become a warrior just like her dad. Despite her hard exterior, she opens up to Titus and Zane and considers them her best and only friends. She is fiercely loyal and, like Titus, not afraid of fighting for her own safety and the safety of her loved ones. All three characters are very different and pulled in different directions, but manage to keep their friendship.

Although I liked 20 Years Later, it kind of pales in comparison to other more gritty and dark dystopias in the genre, such as The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Hunger Games. The writing does need some work. The ending was a bit of a let down, there are a few plot holes, and the frame story tries too hard to incite interest in a sequel. I will be reading the second book and I hope the story gets even better.

My rating: 3.5/5 fishmuffins

Tim Burton Signing

A couple weeks ago, I went to the LA County Museum of Art to see Tim Burton. My boyfriend and I arrived at the museum at 8am and we were greeted with a huge line that stretched about a block away from the actual museum, outside of the La Brea Tar Pits. We waited for a while and I met up with a girl I knew from school named Crystal and her friend Phil. Hanging out with them was awesome and made the first couple of hours go by really fast. (The signing actually started at noon.) Phil has a blog of his own called The Brave New, where the goal is to do something new everyday. This month's theme is eating new food every day. I think this is a great idea and something that could put more spice into anyone's life. He had some really crazy stories about raves and eating weird foods. Anyway, some lady came to tell us that we probably wouldn't see him and to stay may be wasting hours of our precious lives. I, being a crazy and dedicated Burton fan, opted to wait until the very end in hopes of meeting the director and author that I most admire. So, my boyfriend and I waited for another few hours and were finally rewarded. Of course, we called our friends back to line so they could meet him too. I was super giddy when I met Tim Burton and I told him that I've been a fan of his work practically forever. He was very nice, despite having to meet about a billion people and then fly back to England for filming, and signed my big giant coffee table book of his art. Here are some super fuzzy pictures because we weren't allowed to used flash, which makes my camera go all crazy. This is Phil with Tim Burton.

I am very pleased that I have met 2 of my trifecta of awesomeness, Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. All that remains is Danny Elfman, which will hopefully eventually happen. This Sunday, I will be seeing the actual exhibit, so hopefully I can take some pictures and share them with you guys. :)

Rotters

Joey Crouch has a pretty normal life. He lives with his mom and plays trumpet in the band at school. His whole world is turned upside down when she dies in a tragic accident and he is forced to lived with his estranged father, Ken Harnett, in a rural town. Life in this new town couldn't be more different. Teasing and bullying are common occurrences and he finds himself at the bottom of the pecking order, mostly because he lives in squalor with his father who is commonly known as the trash man. Their relationship is shaky to say the least and they don't communicate well. After a while, it becomes clear that Harnett makes his money stealing things from graves. After the initial shock, Joey wants to learn about this new trade that opens the door to a new world full of strange, grotesque characters, horrific sights, family secrets, and himself.

I had never heard of this before getting an advance copy and still have not seen this book in a store. It's surprising because this is a great read that can easily appeal to both adult and older teen readers. Rotters is a unique and very dark coming of age story that centers around the distasteful profession of robbing graves. I've never read a book on this subject, but I figured it would be pretty disgusting and intense. It delivered that in a big way. Decaying corpses, rats, foul odors, and maggots are described in the most loving and beautiful detail. The grave odor that permeates Joey's life is so well described that I feel that I can practically smell it as I read. Daniel Kraus' masterful writing almost leaps off the page.

The other amazing thing about this book is the characters. Each one is richly imagined and after reading the novel, these characters still stayed with me. Joey in particular is a wonderful character that changes drastically throughout the course of the book. At first, he's consumed with grief over his mother's death and strives to get straight A's in school. Then he moves to Bloughton and is constantly bullied because of his father and the stench that follows him. I really felt for him because of both the bullying at school (by teachers and students) and the horrible treatment from his father. He reacted weakly to the abuse and seemed to accept his lot in life. During the second school year, his demeanor changes. His confidence grows and he lashes out in an incredibly satisfying way. He leaves to learn from another digger, but this one is an enemy of his fathers. After the exciting finale, Joey is just himself. He comes into his own with some scars and aches, but with his own sense of self instead of what others try to push onto him. Even though it was encased in gruesome detail and grave robbing, Joey still experienced what most of us experience in our transition from child to adult.

Rotters is an exceptional young adult book that isn't afraid to delve into dark, gruesome territory. I would only recommend this to people that are fans of horror and those that aren't squeamish. I will definitely read whatever Daniel Kraus writes next.

My rating: 4.5/5 fishmuffins