I had my first volunteer shift at the Stanley Milner Library yesterday, sorting books for their upcoming book sale(s) down in the basement. There were less volunteers than I thought there'd be, and I turned out to be the youngest among them (looks like most of the EPL volunteers are older people who are retired or don't work full hours and have oodles of spare time... so we have something in common then), but it was a good time. It also helps that for each volunteer session I help out at, I score four dollars of free used books! XB (When we're talking used books, four dollars buys a respectable pile of new novels to add to my collection~) They also have a drink fridge and sneaky filing cabinet drawer full of snacks to nibble on while you're sorting. Definitely worth waking up early for yesterday morning.

Mason and I watched the new DC animated movie, Batman: Under the Red Hood the other evening, based on the whole Jason Todd reborn storyline. Verdict? Pretty sweet. :B I've read "A Death in the Family" and I'm familiar with the general plot points of Red Hood's origin, so it was neat to see a video version of the story (and according to reviews from people more comic-savvy than I, the adaptation is pretty well done.) Pleasing art and animation, good script, and much more blood and violence than I've seen in the past Batman animated videos. My only sad note is that this movie changed all of the usual voice actors I've come to know and love from the animated Batman universe -- it's silly, but there will always be a little part of me that shuns anyone who tries to fill Kevin Conroy or Mark Hamill's shoes. On the other hand... Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing is awesome! *Glee*

On that thought, why is it that random street thugs know that Nightwing was formerly Robin...? o_O Did Batman post memos up all over Gotham? Is there an official Batman newsletter?

I went out with my sister and mother this week to see the infamous Puppetry of the Penis, and I have to say that frankly I'm beginning to doubt all your guys' cringing and whining about the pain of getting kicked in the balls when you can twist, stretch, and contort your genitals to the degree that these two men did with ease. D: It was amazing and horrifying at the same time, with emphasis on tricks such as the Snail, the Pelican, and... *shudder* Kentucky Fried Chicken. I'd be interested in knowing how many of the men who allow themselves to be dragged to PotP go home and immediately try out some of the "installations" for themselves. Brings a whole new meaning to the concept of "playing with yourself".

Kudos goes out to my sister this week -- she managed to summarize the whole and entire subject range of my Twittering and compile them into a comprehensive, easy to read pie chart:


It is, sad to say, a fairly accurate representation. -_-; As a result, over the past few days I have become an increasingly self-conscience tweeter.

And oh god, after years of constant willpower I'm starting to read fanfiction again. It's like horribly addictive fandom crack and I'm trying to keep it to small quantities. Save me before I fall off the edge of the world and am never heard from again.

What's this? We have a second bunny hanging around our house. He's (she's?) been a constant visitor to our front lawn and backyard since we moved in; we probably see him at least once a day. I never see the bunny on any of our neighbors' lawns, so I can only assume there's something drawing him to ours. *Looks suspiciously at a certain young black and white bunny sitting innocently on the couch* Toby, I think you're having a torrid long distance affair with this wild rabbit. I see you perched up at that window pretending not to look at him (her...?). What a scamp. My bunny, the heartbreaker. But they're two bunnies from two different worlds. It's like Romeo and Juliet but with long ears and fluffy tails -- and like all Shakespeare it can only end in tragedy. D: I tell you, I will have no part of it! Plus this rabbit is like three times the size of poor Toby and would probably squash him flat.


It's funny because every time Mason see's the other rabbit, he rushes out of the house with his airsoft pellet gun like an overzealous protective father -- only instead of caring about illicit bunny affairs, he is more perturbed that the rabbit is shitting on our lawn. It is kind of annoying, because I can't bring Toby outside in a backyard pen if there's wild rabbit feces that could make him sick. We'll have to see if this furry stranger decides to become a permanent resident or not.

I got my new Edmonton library card! I didn't have time the other day to spend a lot of time at the local library, but I did take a quick peak around. It's disappointingly small. :c I thought it had two floors like the St. Albert library but it turns out it's only one; though the fact that I can transfer any book from any of the other Edmonton branches to mine is pretty neat and makes up for the lack of physical shelf space. I immediately put a hold on The Time Traveler's Wife which I've been meaning to check out for a while, before realizing that with the bigger city comes the much bigger hold queue. (405th in line... *Sweatdrop* Should have expected that with all the movie hype.) Thankfully Sarah is kindly lending me her copy or I'd probably be on the waiting list until next year.

I'm getting very excited for the new Batman game Arkham Asylum being released on the 25th. Paul Dini himself is reportedly heading the script, and Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are both reprising their roles as Batman and the Joker respectively (though from what I've seen from the trailers, Hamill has toned his readings down to something significantly darker than his work on the original Batman animated series' *glee*), and word is there are parts of the game you can actually play as Mister J~ THAT IS EPIC FTW. :B Mason's promised to only play it when I'm in the room so I don't miss any of the story or animated sequences. Depending on how frustrating and hard the game controls look, I may actually take a stab at playing this one myself. Maybe.

I really need to stop reading the books before I see the movie adaptations. Coleen and I went and saw My Sister's Keeper last night and I'm undecided whether I walked out so disappointed simply because the film wasn't that great, or because it was so completely butchered from the original novel version.

I understand that book-to-movie adaptations always involve some inevitable but necessary plot trimming, but I can't stand when for no apparent reason they cut out all these wonderful scenes from the book and then end up writing all-new scenes to fill up all that extra space that don't even end up doing the original's justice at all. Why don't they just keep the original bits? There were scenes in the novel that displayed the emotional battle this family is going through so simply and vividly -- whereas the new movie inserts were fairly bland and too drawn out.

I'm also a little irked that they completely changed some of the key character's personalities. They made Anna loud, annoying, and obnoxious. In addition to giving Jesse's self-destructive personality a complete 180 degree rewrite, they also cut out his entire storyline. And poor Campbell Alexander's character should never have been given to the likes of Alec Baldwin who is both much too old and not at all good looking or charming enough to pull off the role. Though I can't say they even gave him much a role in the film -- Campbell's entire subplot with Julie (who wasn't even in the movie) was trashed, and his health condition was barely even touched upon.

And did I mention that they completely changed and reversed the ending? D: That is most ridiculous rewrite of a story wrap up that I've ever seen. There was no heart wrenching impact or twist to the movie's finale! It was anti-climactic and completely negates Anna's entire purpose in the story that contributes so much to the title My Sister's Keeper. What a sham. *Grumble mumble grumble*

On a different but still petty fangirlsh rant, I'm about so sick of all of the recent Dark Knight LedJoker fanart that I could spew. I don't think I can stand to see another dozen duplications of the "Why So Serious" poster, the infamous playing card or head quirked shots, or Ledger sitting on the damn jail cell bench. (Don't even get me started on the amount of cosplay photos you have to swim through now. Ugh.) Don't get me wrong, I like DK Joker. It's just that that seems to be all you ever see now. The Chris Nolan Batman franchise has spawned a whole new generation of Batman fans that probably don't even realize that Heath Ledger is just this one microscopic version of Mister J in a pile of Joker incarnation gems of the past in cartoons and comics. *Sad* It makes weeding through the DeviantArt results to find interesting pieces very tedious.

(Hahaha, okay, but I did come across this creepy but adorable LedJoker chibi. So cute in a creepy-clown-doll sort of way.)

Also, has anyone else noticed how funny and a bit disturbing at times it is that pretty much no matter which popular fandom or character you search for on DeviantArt, you'll inevitably end up finding a picture of them depicted as either some sort of canine, feline, or horse relation? Look! It's Joker as a wolf! Look! It's a Jack Sparrow horse! Look! It's a Severus Snape lion! And well hey now, that seems to be a bit of strange anatomical position to put him in with that Dumbledore lio-- ohmygodmyeyes *close tab close tab CLOSE TAB!* DX I guess it just goes to show there's a crazy furry enthusiast in every fandom. Though for the sake of the rest of the fan community there should be some sort of browsing filter.

Countdown until shiny exciting house possession: 26

Oh god, why oh why does Bruce have Harley Quinn's and other rogues gallery villains' costumes displayed in the Batcave? Does he just steal their outfits as soon as they change into the ugly orange Arkham jumpsuits? Harley fell down a giant chasm -- did Batman climb down and strip her costume from her broken, bleeding body? D: Is it like stamp collecting but with people's clothes that he then goes and trades for other better clothes with fellow Justice League members?

I don't care if you're a super hero or not, that's just creepy.

While we were camping this past weekend we were given a copy of the Wabamun rules and warnings which included a note about wildlife to watch out for, emphasizing in particular "BEARS".

o_O

Well see, now we're just confused. Are these bears abnormal in some way? Are they actually ferocious man-eating bunnies that you like to pass off as bears? Or maybe park rangers dressed up in cheap bear suits in an effort to catch us off guard breaking the May Long liquor ban? They obviously pose a possible threat of some sort since you went out of your way to wield the PWR OF TEH CAPSLCK. Were the ambiguous air quotes really necessary? Now we can't tell whether it's a legitimate warning or an inside joke on behalf of the campground clerical staff that we're not in on. Or perhaps some idiots still do not understand that quotation marks ≠ emphasis.

I just finished My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult and I think it's the closest I've ever come to actually crying reading a book. The ending was... just... *anguished little noise* For fear of spoiling the story (which apparently I very often do unintentionally -- sorry!) you should just take me at my word when I say the book is amazingly good and you should all go read it now.

I started watching the first few episodes of Batman Beyond and it manages to fill the little empty hole that BtAS left after finishing off the final season. It's much darker than the original series... Watching the first episode suddenly makes the whole scene in Revenge of the Joker where Terry descends down into the graffitied Batcave so much more gut wrenching. D: Also, I don't know whether it's just because he's crotchety and old in this series or not, but Bruce is much more of a dick sometimes in BB. "Bring back the suit." "No!" *Beep* "GAAAA!" ^^; (Oh Batman, disgruntled and wrinkly as you may be, we still love you.)

On a reverse note, does anyone else cringe at how often Batman says "chum" in the older comics? I realize the character has changed a lot since over the years, but it's very... un-Batsy compared to today's modern Batman who's much more broody and much less... bromancey. Look at him, he smiling too much! It's unnerving. Like ol' Brucie's trying to throw you off and at any moment he's going to whirl around and punch you in the face when you're not expecting it. (Or rape you if you're Robin.)

"Come on, chum. Let's go home... and 'go to bed'." *Grins and swings off into the sunset.*

Suuure.