Mood: Every now and then you should have a good ranty blog post

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

Mood: Watching Batman Beyond episode 3. Highly disturbed.

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.

Mood: Yum~ Just ate the best cheddar cheese perogies EVAH

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.

Mood: Tired. Was up at 5 a.m. this morning.

Sorry guys, but I'm really struggling to force myself to finish reading Outlander. It's only rated a Somewhat Entertaining on the Brenna Scale of Awesome -- there's only so many times in one book that the heroine can be almost killed and/or raped, have her big burly Scotsman husband save her at the last moment, and then go off and have piles of hot sex before it all becomes a little repetitive. At times it also feels like a bad Harlequin smut novel, with such cheese-filled gems as:

I pressed my hips back against him, inviting, and settled against
him with a sigh as his solid hardness filled me.

and...

"I want to leave the feel of me deep inside ye with my seed."

I felt silly just typing out the quote out here. I had to put the book down for a while to gather up my brain from the floor.

In other news, OMG I finally fixed my internet! It's been sickeningly slow on my Mac here at home, but yet fine on Mason's PC. *Terrible cloud of irritated confusion* Apparently Apple is doing... something... with their DNS... something or other... (I don't actually understand all the techno-babble at all) but basically whatever it is made interwebbing really slow -- but everyone seemed to point to a specific OpenDNS thing to fix the problem, and it did! HUZZUH! Hello speedy 'nets, I missed you~

I've been spending a lot of time lately expanding my (previously complete lack-thereof) collection of Batman comics, most notably issues that predominately feature the Joker and/or Harley Quinn; and heavily helped by the conveniently compiled list created by the wonderful webmistress of Love Dat Joker. (I love when all the hard work is already done for me.) So far I've managed to find everything from the main Batman series, most of Detective Comics, as well as all the animated titles and several issues and mini-series' from here and there.

It's been fun finally getting to read some of those really popular and well-known stories that I've only heard about before, despite having to battle through all the horrible retro art that makes me cringe. (I'm a sucker for the sexy, modern penciling more along the lines of Jim Lee.) Stories like "A Death in the Family" have been a great read, but the visuals almost ruin it for me. T-T

This avatar screams out for an amusing caption of some kind, but I don't know what.

Mood: There are not enough hours in the day. Must go to bed now.

Monday always arrives way too fast. I didn't get to do nearly enough napping on the weekend, and I nearly fell asleep at my desk at work today again. =_=; I need to start taking a break half way through the day and go for a walk or something, because this is becoming an alarming mid-afternoon trend.

On Friday I went on a hot girly movie date to see 17 Again with Nickie and Swoo, and it was surprisingly entertaining (extra points for teenage heart throb Zac Efron looking plenty fine in a button up~) Ten extra points to the ridiculously hilarious nerdism-filled love of Guy I Forget The Name Of and Closeted Geeky Principal Lady.

I also finally got my fabulously pretty Coach purse (knock off obviously, but still extremely pretty) repaired~ The cheapy leather straps were tearing off so I took them down to the mall to get them repaired/reinforced, and the man behind the counter seemed offended that I'd bought a fake designer bag and had the gall to want it repaired. He went so far as to try to convince me that the $20 he was charging me wasn't worth it. WTF. D:< Dude, I just gave you money! Shut your mouth and do your job! *Scowl* *Hugs pretty purse*

I watched Disney's Earth on Sunday! You can download the BBC version of the film already, and the only difference is the narration -- which as opposed to James Earl Jones, this one is done by sexy Patrick Stewart! Captain Picard makes everything better! (Yes that's right, I like my men old and English and who have boldly gone where no one has gone before~) The movie had some sad parts in it, but was mostly filled with adorable animals and a scene or two with some baby polar bears that Sarah Woo will probably have a massive heart attack from the sheer amount of cuteness. We also now have copies of every major Disney animated film *hearts* and the first season of Batman Beyond which I'm very excited to watch because besides the Return of the Joker movie, I've only seen one or two episodes of it.

Hahahaha, I'm working my way through a Zhao fan comic by legit Avatar storyboard artist, rufftoon. (Alternate universe: Zhao was spared by the ocean spirit at the end of the first season, loses his memories, and is taken in by the Northern Water Tribe. Hilarious Zhao facial expressions and general awesomeness ensues.) If you're an Admiral Zhao nut or just an Avatar art fan you should check it out.

I've been sort of... kind of... toying with the idea of starting a fan comic project of my own -- only obviously not nearly as amazingly detailed or shaded or awesome as rufftoon. T-T I'm too lazy to write the oodles of fanfiction that pile up and lay around doing backstrokes in my head, but it would be nice to at least get bits of the stories on paper of some medium. It's really intimidating though because of the sheer size of a project like that... I don't really have the piles of free time I'd need. And I have zero experience with comic layout and backgrounds and type. And that's a lot of freaking drawing... :x Knowing me it very well may never even be started let alone finished. Though I'm serious enough about the idea that I've at least randomly found myself instinctively going into fandomy research mode and jotting down notes and mapping out key scenes during my morning commute. We'll have to see if anything comes of it.

Mother eff. The lady living above us is vacuuming again. She vacuumes at the weirdest times of the night, last week she was up pushing that thing around at 1:30 in the morning. I've narrowed it down to either crazy double work shift mother, or deranged OCD psychopath. *Suspicious*

Mood: Nerdy

LULz. There was no part of this episode that was not genuinely amusing, from the journalist turned over the top, Joker ripoff, Jeff Bennett-voiced loony; to Harley trying to schmooze Mister J for sex while slathered in pie and the Joker looking awkwardly uncomfortable about the whole thing (for the second time this season -- the writers seemed to have made Harley extra horny for TNBA.) She's hilarious. How can such a dysfunctional relationship be so utterly adorable at times?

I remain undecided on whether or not I like the art style for TNBA more or less than that of the original animated series. It's cleaner and bit more streamlined -- I enjoy Bruce's new design and particularly the resounding absence of his old ugly yellow shirt and brown suit, and the Batman suit is darker (because HEY, nothing says stealthily hiding in the shadows like giant blazing flashes of yellow right on your chest and waist!); but in certain episodes there's a lot of over sized bobble-headiness going around and for whatever reason the Joker is now... blue...? o_O

/end random Batman rambles. Off to bed now.