Tuesday Video Challenge No. 12 - Mean by Taylor Swift

I know, I know...two Taylor Swift videos in a row? Well when I was picking the one for last week I couldn't decide between that one and this one so now you get both. They're both great videos anyway.

Narcissa's Hair

So, for the longest time, I've wondered why Narcissa's hair is both black and blonde in the Harry Potter movies (I'm not sure if it was this way, as well, in the books or not). Well, I think I've figured it out. And, if it describes this in the book and I just look like an idiot right now, just ignore me thanks.
So, Narcissa is Bellatrix's sister which would make her a Black (hence the black hair) but she's married into the Malfoy family, known for their white-blond hair and so she takes on their hair color.
I kind of see this as her saying that she belongs as much in that family as her own. I believe that she was rather forced into marrying Lucius and that is one way of her saying that she belongs there. That she wants to be there.
Just my opinion, of course, and by no means correct.
What do you think?

Tuesday Video Challenge No. 11 - Ours by Taylor Swift

I was never a huge fan of this song but, I think, watching this video has given it a whole new meaning and I really love it. I love the video. It tells the story perfectly. And it's made really fall in love with the song.

Tuesday Video Challenge No. 10 - Sweet Dreams by Emily Browning

I love the Eurythmics doing this, of course (I believe that's the original, right?) but I adore Emily Browning's voice. And I thought the video was interesting. So here you go. And you should probably see Sucker Punch while you're at it (the movie that this is from) as it's pretty good. Not the best but worth seeing at least once.

Love always,

Moonchild

Tuesday Video Challenge No. 9: Come Wander With Me by Bonnie Beecher

This video is from The Twilight Zone (an episode aptly named Come Wander With Me). A few months ago I went through a period where I wanted to watch every episode of The Twilight Zone that I could. I have since stopped that but I still love the show. And this song is one of my favorites ever. It's so sweet, magical, enchanting but haunting and intriguing. I really like it!

Lizzie Bennet's Diary and Assassin's Creed

A very odd title for sure, but two things I want to talk about. The first, and not as important, is that I'm watching Hank Green play Assassin's Creed Brotherhood on YouTube. I've never been a huge gamer person but watching Hank Play Assassin's Creed is making it actually seem awfully interesting. I think I'd like to play it if I had a relatively cheap way of doing so. Like, if I found it in a bin for, say, $10 I'd probably buy it and play it. So, yeah, there's that...

But what I'm really excited to talk about is The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (which, coincidentally, also relates to Hank Green). LBD is a new project that Hank is doing - a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice in vlog form from Elizabeth's point of view. There have been four videos released so far and a new one is set to be released tomorrow (there's new ones on Monday and Thursday). I'm really excited. But let me just quickly throw in the first four videos here. They're not long and so worth watching.

So there's that...ahaha. I feel kind of strange having just put in four videos right in a row, but whatevs. And I'm really excited for the new video tomorrow. I get an email when a new video is posted. I am much too obsessed.

Please watch them, though, even if you haven't read the book. I haven't read the book (in full) and, as I'm sure you're beginning to understand, I love them.

But, to tell you the truth, that's really all I wanted to talk about.

Oh and, because I don't think I've told you yet, my Instagram is @alyssaxdarling and you should definitely follow me (if you want, no pressure).

Now I'm done...I believe. If I think of something else, I'll start a new post.

Yours,

Moonchild

Tuesday Video Challenge No. 7: Doctor What by Charlie McDonnell

Another Charlie (well, Chameleon Circuit) video. I was sad this song wasn't on their new album, Still Got Legs. But oh well, I can listen to it on YouTube whenever, I suppose.

I'm not sure why I like this song so much. Maybe because it sounds more Doctor Who-ish, if that makes sense. I don't know. I like it. So yeah...

Tuesday Video Challenge No. 6: Bread by Charlie McDonell

I love this song for whatever reason. It's whimsical but I think you could find so many more meanings in it. And the animation is adorable.

My Review of Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick

Title: Tweet Heart {a novel in e-mails, blogs and tweets}
Author: Elizabeth Rudnick
Published: June 29, 2010
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 264 (Paperback)
Website: http://elizabethrudnick.com

This YA romance novel, told mostly in tweets with a few e-mails and blog posts thrown in, is about Claire (@claireRbear) and her three friends Lottie (@Lots0Love), Bennett (@KingofSlack) and Will (@WiseOneWP). Claire is freaking out a bit because she has just been made the school's new advice columnist. The only problem is that she has no clue about life or love, in fact, that would be her best friend, Lottie. Boy-crazy and sporty lacrosse captain, Lottie. But Claire decides to give the column a try. And when her longtime crush, JD Whitcomb, starts following her on Twitter, everything seems great. Until everything gets all tangled up like these tend to do. Why won't JD talk to her at school? Why's he acting like he doesn't know who he is or like he forgets the things they tweeted about? Is JD as perfect as she thought he was?
The biggest con to this story is its predictability. So, it doesn't have a mind-blowing plot. We all need a light, fluffy, cute book to read now and then. And this was a great one. I loved the characters. I loved reading Bennett's blog and Claire's advice answers (they were very funny). Lottie was a great foil to Claire and Bennett and Will reflected their relationship. I may just be a sucker for this type of hopeless romance book (as I could identify a little too well with Claire's character) but I enjoyed reading this immensely. It was very short (264 pages) and, with the majority being written in tweets, goes very quickly. I got it around noon on the 28th and finished it that night. And that wasn't me sitting down to read it, that was just reading whenever I got a chance while we ran errands and looked for bedding for my parents' new bed.
If you're looking for a realistic fiction, YA romance novel that'll have you going "aww", this is one of the best I've read in a long time. The fact that I liked this novel so much is even more surprising because I usually hate realistic fiction. So...take that how you will.

Yours in language and literature,
MoonChild

And since I forgot my video on Tuesday...

I will apologize by giving you this. I love this song and I couldn't find a video for it anywhere, except covers. So I made a quick lyrics video (I didn't feel like putting in too much effort). So, here you go: Peter Pan by Patty Griffin

(Late) Tuesday Video Challenge No. 5: The Hanging Tree by Sam Cushion & Rachel Macwhirter

And May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

I've seen The Hunger Games twice, now, and I thought I'd tell you all about it. If you haven't read the book (or want to be completely unspoiled for the movie) you probably don't want to read ahead.
So, hey, you still here? Alright let's go...
To start off, I loved it! And I was so worried. Ever since I heard of the existence of this movie I had very low expectations. The book was so good but so bloody and I didn't know how they would portray that and keep it PG-13. And I felt that a lot of the story was told in Katniss's head (for lack of a better term), not spoken. I was concerned about how that would translate to a movie. But they truly did do a very good job. There was really only two noticeable things that they (understandably) cut. And that was Madge's character and the backstory with the Avox girl. The Avox girl didn't add much to the story, really. I think it was just to show what could happen to Katniss if she were to rebel. As for Madge, I very much liked her character in the book but she was really only there to bring the pin into the story. In the movie, Katniss sees the pin while trading in the Hob and buys it for Prim, telling her it'll keep her safe. When Prim and her mom come to say goodbye to Katniss, Prim gives her the pin back and says, "To keep you safe." It was quite touching and, in a way, I think I almost liked the way they did it in the movie better.
As for casting (which is an aspect that always worries me before seeing a movie I'm excited for), I think they did a great job with that, as well. When I first saw Jennifer Lawrence, when they first announced her being cast, I wasn't really too happy with it. I didn't know her from anything else (most people that recognize her, it'll be from Winter's Bone). I thought she was too pretty and too...soft looking. But seeing her hair dyed and dressed as Katniss, dirty and roughed up. She looked the part. But her acting was awesome. It was plainly clear that she understood Katniss as a character. She is a great actress and I think (and hope) that she'll stick around for quite a while.
Liam Hemsworth made a good Gale. I'm not a big fan of Liam himself, and we only see Gale for a maximum of 5 minutes combined, but he does pretty well from what I can see.
As for Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. I think this was one of the best casting choices they made. Josh is Peeta. I'll admit, I was (shallowly) worried that Josh would look weird with blond hair but somehow it works. But the way they describe Peeta in the books: charismatic, persuasive, charming; he is all of those things. I'm so glad he got the part because he really is a great actor and I'm excited for him to reach a wider audience.
On to random things I liked: I liked their outfits for the chariot ride in the Capitol. The ones where they're wearing capes of fire. It looked prety good for being something so unnatural. I liked the part where Peeta admits his crush on Katniss during Caesar's talk show. That was always one of my favorite parts in the book and I was quite happy with it in the movie. I liked Katniss and Peeta in the cave. They were so effing cute. I loved every scene with Rue in it. I wish she could've been more prevalent. I love the girl they cast. She's adorable, she can act surprisingly well (or rather, I think she just felt connected to Rue in a way that younger kids can), and she makes you feel for her. Seeing her killed and Katniss decorating her with wildflowers. It was one of the most heartwrenching scenes I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever wanted to cry at movie more than I did then. And the music, music in movies has always made me so emotional, it just made the whole so much more difficult to watch without breaking down. And then we see those in District 11 give the three-fingered salute. A man we assume to be Rue's father (or, at least, I assumed this, I haven't asked anyone else) breaks away from the crowd and attacks the Peacekeepers and a riot breaks out. I loved seeing this, witnessing the first sparks of rebellion. Seeing the people finally get sick of the unfairness and injustice. It was great, in a sad way, of course.
There's one other thing that sticks out in my mind that I quite liked. In the books, Katniss explains to us what Tracker Jackers are, works out what the booby trap around the pyramid of food is, she does these in her head rather than spoken aloud. So to explain those things, they would show an ongoing commentary of the games done by Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith. They explain Tracker Jackers as if to an audience and wonder aloud whether Katniss will figure out that the Careers dug up and re-buried the mines. So I thought that was something of an innovative way to explain things.
There were really only a few things I had complaints with and both were, for the most part, fairly minor. The first was a few things that weren't explained and, to someone who didn't read the books, wouldn't be fully comprehended. The one that sticks out in my head is, what I call, the three-fingered salute. The thing that everyone does when Katniss goes up on stage at the Reaping after volunteering for Prim. When it happens in the movie, you get the sense that it's an act of solidarity. You get the gist but you don't really know where it's from or why...if you haven't read the book, of course.
The other was the cinematography. It was super, duper shaky. The first time I saw it, I legitimately thought I was going to be sick. As the movie went on I got used to it. My mum didn't, though, so I guess it all depends on the person. The second time I saw it, I wasn't really bothered at all.
So there you go, my very long-winded review of The Hunger Games movie. I have to say, I think it may have been the best book to movie adaptation I've ever seen. Better, even, than Harry Potter, simply because HP just had so much more plot and subplot to squeeze into the same amount of time.
I loved it, though. I really did.
And I hope everyone else enjoys it, as well.

Alyssa,
Female Tribute of District 4

In "The Last Two" by Kaden Hurley

On the copyright page it says, "Please note that Destiny Image's publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers' styles. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules."
Umm...alright. That's kind of, sort of weird.

So I Was Watching Deathly Hallows Part 2

You know the part after Harry shows up in the Great Hall and McGonagall "fights" Snape (I put it in quotes because all he really does is throw a few shield spells and fly out the window)? And then Voldemort talks in everyone's head and demands that they give him Harry Potter. And Pansy says, "What are you waiting for? Someone grab him!" And then Filch comes in shouting about students out of bed and McGonagall says his arrival is opportune. She says, "Please escort Miss Parkinson and the other Slytherins out of the Great Hall...the dungeons'll do."

So anyway, I was thinking about this and it seems horribly unfair. I mean, throughout the books, J.K. Rowling talks about how not all Slytherins are evil or bad. But rather cunning and, if anything, usually out for themselves. But that doesn't make them evil. And I felt like, when McGonagall sent all the Slytherins to the dungeons because of one, well it was horribly unfair. Granted, on a realistic level, it probably made their battle easier as, I'm sure, a number of the Slytherins were, or would've done, sided with Voldemort. I just found it to be against the principles usually put forth in the series (books and movies).
But again, that's just what I think. And I wouldn't really worry about it if it seemed that there was a reason for doing so, such as the Slytherins needing to be in a certain place for something else to happen later on. The only thing I can think of is that Draco, Goyle and Zabini apparate from the dungeons to the Room of Requirement to intercept the trio. Also, I just realized this, I thought you couldn't apparate in Hogwarts. I suppose Snape or the Carrows could have removed this for some reason but that doesn't make much sense. Plus, the teachers had been placing protective enchantments for a while by this point and I think that would have been one of them (if not already in place).
Back to the original point, however, this moment here is the only time we see the Slytherins in relation to the dungeons. Then, this scene isn't even in the movie, really. It's in the deleted scenes.
So was there a reason for sending all the Slytherins to the dungeons? If you have any ideas, let me know. Or if you think I'm reading way too much into this, keep that to yourself. Just kidding, tell me that too.
Love you and, as always, thanks for reading!
-Alyssa

Tuesday Video Challenge No. 3 - My Heart With You by The Rescues

Okay, so this isn't exactly an official video. It's actually the band recording the song so it does sound a little different from the final version but it's still great.

Have You Seen the Official Teaser Trailer for Despicable Me 2?

I found this so hilarious. I cannot even tell you. I showed it to my dad and I don't think he found it nearly as funny but whatevs!
POOOOTAAAATOOOOOOOO

Tuesday Video Challenge 2: "Galaxies" by Laura Veirs

I could only find the video on her record company's official YouTube and the embedding is disabled so here's the link.
http://youtu.be/PE1ges9nn6A
I promise you, it's great!

P.S. Sorry I'm two hours late...

My Rant on E-Readers

E-readers are quite a controversial thing aren't they? I've always been for them. What started my thinking about the pros and cons, though, was a quote from Ray Bradbury:

Those aren’t books. You can’t hold a computer in your hand like you can a book. A computer does not smell. There are two perfumes to a book. If a book is new, it smells great. If a book is old, it smells even better. It smells like ancient Egypt. A book has got to smell. You have to hold it in your hands and pray to it. You put it in your pocket and you walk with it. And it stays forever. But the computer doesn’t do that for you. I’m sorry.

I found this so infuriating that I was speechless and spluttering for a time afterward. Sure, everyone's entitled to their own opinion but that doesn't mean that everyone's opinions make sense or are right (and I don't mean this in the sense of correct but right in the sense of good or moral or whatever). Anyway, am I the only one who finds this stupid (okay, no I know I'm not). This doesn't make any sense. Sure, you may love books (as do I) and I understand everything you're saying, really. But this doesn't say anything about reading. I hate to tell you Mr. Bradbury but there's a difference. With every choice there is sacrifice. In Economics it's called Opportunity Cost. You have to give up something in order to get something. Me personally, I value the story and entertainment that I get from a book. That is why I read. To escape, to laugh, to cry, to live as someone else. To play dress up for a while. So yes, sometimes I don't get to smell ancient Egypt on my Kindle but I still get the best part - the story, and it's completely the same one that I get on the paper pages.
It simply doesn't make sense for someone that isn't a millionaire writer to buy all their books at $17 or $25 for a hardback. Not to mention that I'm usually reading a ton of books at once. Do you know how hard it is to carry four books at once? Especially when they're nearly all 400-500 pages long? I'll tell you, it's very difficult. Guess how much a Kindle weighs? About a pound. Guess how many books I can carry on it? THOUSANDS!
And you want to know what the best part is? I'll never stop buying books. I love holding and smelling books just as much as you do. I'm just not a brat about it, stomping my feet and demanding all the big bad machines go away! I will always buy books and I will always have an eReader, as well. And I don't think eReaders will ever replace books and bookstores and libraries. I know that seems like a bold thing to say, considering. But that's what I think.
Granted, that's only what I think. Again, opinions are up for debate. But they only make sense when backed with facts or reasons. I don't mean to call anyone else's opinions wrong or stupid. I suppose we are all entitled to them. If I have offended anyone, I promise I didn't mean to.
I'd love to talk to anyone about this that wants to talk. To agree or disagree. I'd love to politely and civilly debate the topic.
But that's the end of my rant. That's how I feel and I'm a bit knackered now.

P.S. I found this line that I quite like on this blog (which is also where I went to find the Bradbury quote as I couldn't find the original article): I'd rather read books, than whine like a child with a skinned knee, about formats, and what constitutes a "real" book.

P.P.S. Thinking about trying out a new signature-type thingy. Trying to think of one. Any ideas anyone?

P.P.P.S (And I promise this is it) I literally just typed this and didn't proofread at all. Sorry for any mistakes.

Tuesday Video Challenge 1: "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars

I'm Thinking About Doing Another Challenge

I know, I was just rereading past blog posts and I said I'm never doing another challenge, ever again. I'm paraphrasing myself, of course, but that's what I meant. I think this might be fun though and not too overwhelming.
My plan is to post a new music video every week on a predetermined day. Thereby documenting what I'm listening to as time goes on. And I think I may make that predetermined day Tuesday so that I can start now. Yeah, what do you think of that?
What did you say? You're a series of 1's and 0's that don't actually have consciousness and only move through fiber optic wires? Well fine, be that way.
Okay, off to go watch some music videos.