YET ANOTHER Book Meme!

A book meme, because I don't have any new comics to post. :P Working on a super long one though!

A. Author You’ve Read The Most Books From
Um, I don't know! Either Jane Austen, or... I don't know. When I was little, I read a TON of Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House books. :P
B. Best Sequel Ever
Oh! Oh! Oh! Brother Odd by Dean Koontz! It's a scary, but also very moving story, and the characters are so cool. This book actually made me a leetle-bit teary at some parts, too.
C. Currently Reading
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoi. But the second one is more of a backburner kind of thing.
D. Drink of Choice While Reading
I don't really drink while I read because I'm paranoid about spilling on my book. XD
E. E-Reader or Physical Books
I prefer Physical Books, but I do own a kindle, so I could go either way.
F. Fictional Character You Would Have Dated In High School
None of them, because I don't want to experience a stupid teen breakup.
G. Glad You Gave This Book A Chance
Black Beauty. I thought I would hate it, but I read it to make my sister happy, and I discovered that it's actually a very nice book! So many good passages, and the characters were cool, even though I wasn't too attached to them.
H. Hidden Gem Book
The Brothers Karamazov. I thought it would be really dry and boring, but I read it, and I REALLY liked it!
I. Important Moments of Your Reading Life
Um... Je ne sais pas!
J. Just Finished
The Count of Monte Cristo, but that was almost a month ago by now. And I already want to read it again!
K. Kinds of Books You Won’t Read
I dislike Young Adult fiction. I've been giving certain YA books a chance, like The Hunger Games, and Ender's Game, but generally, it's a genre that I just really hate. I could explain why, but that would be a REALLY long post. Oh, and romance. Most romance isn't my cup of tea.
L. Longest Book You’ve Read
Either Les Miserables or The Count of Monte Cristo.
M. Major Book Hangover Because Of
I don't know! I know that was at a loss on what to read when I finished The Idiot. But I'm not quite clear what a book hangover is, so yeah.
N. Number of Bookcases You Own
[looks over shoulder] Uh, One and a half. Some of my books are on my nightstand, and others are on the bookshelf.
O. One Book That You Have Read Multiple Times
A Tale of Two Cities, most of the Odd Thomas books... pretty much any book I like, I'll read it to death, like The Tale of Despereaux.
P. Preferred Place to Read
Anywhere comfortable. :)
Q. Quote From A Book That Inspires You/Gives You Feels
Aw, there are so many! But I'll pick just one... oooooooff. Just one of many, mind you!!

Monte Cristo was beginning to think, what he had not for a long time dared to believe, that there were two Mercedes in the world, and he might yet be happy.

R. Reading Regret
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. RRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHATETHISBOOK
S. Series You Started and Need to Finish
Uh, I don't know! The only series I've really been reading was Odd Thomas, and that series finished this past month!
T. Three Of Your All-Time Favorite Books
Les Miserables, A Tale of Two Cities, aaaaannnnddd...... Brother Odd. No, Emma. No wait, I um, can it be top four books of all time? XD
U. Unapologetic Fangirl For
[shrugs] Lotsa things.
W. Worst Bookish Habit
Uh... they make me stay up very late when I have exams the following day? And I have a tendency to judge books before I read them. Because I'm just a meanie like that. XD But I'm sometimes proven wrong, like with Black Beauty! So I'm not so close-minded that I won't admit I was wrong about a book. ;)
V. Very Excited For This Release More Than Any Other
I was super excited for the last Odd Thomas book... (gotta stop ranting about that)
X Marks The Spot (Start On Your Bookshelf And Count to the 27th
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. :)
Y. Your Latest Book Purchase
A nice copy of Les Miserables. Because I'm just frivolous like that. ;)
Z. ZZZ-Snatcher (last book that kept you up WAY late)
So many books did this! But Les Miserables kept me up super late many times. I remember being up past 2 am, and I read from the fall of the barricade all the way to Javert's suicide. It was just so gripping!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier [2014]

This poster is really dramatic.

How could they do that to Bucky?!
Sorry, getting a little ahead of myself.
So! We watched this movie last week, and I think it's a pretty good movie! Not my favorite, but I'm just not big on the Avengers. I certainly don't dislike them, but the only ones I really care about are Nick Fury, Iron Man, and Captain America.
Anyhoo, I haven't seen the first Captain America movie in a long time, so I don't know how this compares as a sequel. It was well directed, and there was some really good camera work, too! Captain America is my favorite avenger, because he's so idealistic and actually believes in his country, and fights to make it better even when he doesn't approve of everything it does. My kind of patriotism, baby! I was afraid this would be all dark and grim, with Cap becoming harsh and cynical in the process, but it was actually really good.
Aside from Captain, the supporting cast is pretty good! I didn't find the villain that memorable, but I liked Black Widow, and especially that dude who had the wings and stuff. Was he called Falcon? I want to call him Falcon, but I don't want to get heat for being wrong about his name. :P Whatever, we REALLY liked Falcon. He might have been me and my sib's favorite character, actually. XD
So yeah, back to Bucky. I um, had actually sort of kind of forgotten about him! I knew that Cap had a buddy who got killed off in the first movie, but I didn't actually think he would come back, let alone come back the way he did! Poor guy!

The Verdict: B+
A good superhero movie is one that non-comic book fans can enjoy too. And, well, this is one of those movies! It's got a good story (though how did that guy live in the computer? Magic?!?) and very good directing. Good atmosphere all throughout, too. Though if you just want a fun superhero movie, this one's a bit dark for that. If it's a muy good time you're looking for, may I suggest Guardians of the Galaxy? :D

Shane [1953]

There's no living with a killing. There's no goin' back from one. Right or wrong, it's a brand... a brand sticks. There's no goin' back. Now you run on home to your mother and tell her... tell her everything's alright. And there aren't any more guns in the valley.

Allrighty, who's in the mood for a Western? I hadn't seen this movie for a while, and I didn't remember, well, how dang good it is! With a super poignant ending, too, I might add.
Anyhoo, this movie is about a gunslinger named Shane (obviously XD) who befriends a family of homesteaders. He hopes to retire from his gunslinging ways, but unfortunately, the valley has a problem with this nasty cowboy called Ryker and his gang. Feeling compelled to help the valley people, Shane makes his presence known to Ryker & Co., and the plot just kind of goes from there!
So, one of my favorite things about this movie was the cinematography. At first, it didn't look like anything terribly special or creative, but as the film went on, I started noticing all the technique and composition, and in a climatic scene towards the end, especially, there was one shot that blew me away. It hearkened back to something early on that happened and related in a sad way to the scene at hand, and how everything was laid out... it was so amazing. I also liked the soundtrack. It was very swell-y, and really hearkened a big, open valley!

The Verdict: A
SHAAAANE! COME BAAAACK SHAAAAAANE!!
Ahem. Yeah, Joey was kind of shrill sometimes but that ending just... got me. This movie has a relatively simple plot, but it packs quite a punch. Highly recommended. :)

Blog Oscars!

Just kidding, not the Oscars, it's something vastly more fun and less snobby*. ;)
I was tagged for this nice lil' blogger award thingy by the ever-classy Miss Jane Bennet of Classic Ramblings. Merci, Mademoiselle Jane! This tag by the way originated at the blog Edge of Night, which has a cool aesthetic by the way. :)

RULES AND REGULATIONS:
+ Select 15 blogs to nominate
+ Thank the person who nominated you
+ Give a brief story of how your blog got started and a piece or two of advice for new bloggers. 
+ Attach the award
+ Comment on each nominee's blog and let them know that you've nominated them
+ Provide a link to the original post on Edge of Night (link above)

So here's the awkward truth, much like in real life, I'm so nervous about talking to peeps online. So if I make more friends out here, terrificoso! But until then, here are my two nominees. :)
Ice Cream of The Blog of Ice Cream (I know you're pretty busy right now, but I'll nominate you for the next time you need inspiration for a post :)
Hannah of Miss Daydreamer's Place

So let's see, how did I get started... Um, me and my mom were in line at Walmart talking about my Chibi comics, and I was all "Do you think I could get a spot in the newspaper?" Mom said that lots of cartoonists actually have a better time on their own blogs/websites. So I asked if I could have a blog for mine and she said yes. The end of my epic tale! :D

Okay, advice. Um... I'm trying to think of something good, and I'm drawing a loooooong blank. Well, don't be afraid to say hi to people you meet, don't worry about it when people who were followers suddenly drop you, and if you ever feel discouraged just change your blog look. Seriously, do it. I was overdramatically discouraged about a month ago and was almost ready to quit, but when I played around with the blog look, I found that I wanted to use it more because it was pwetty. XD

There you have it! Stay Frosty, my friends. :)
*Well I liked The Lego Movie!

Saint Odd by Dean Koontz [2015]

[deep breath] Okay. So it's over! How bittersweet is that, huh? I would like to go on a rant about the end, but this book hasn't even been out for a week, so it's a little early to start getting crazy with the spoilers.
But there's plenty else to rant about. So! This book picks up a little bit after the last one left off, and pits Odd against the same enemies from the last installment, a group of Satanists who aren't just your average devil-worshippers.
Odd Thomas books aren't horror, strictly speaking, but most of them have had at least one part that was pretty terrifying. This one on the other hand, doesn't ever utilize the horror card, and goes more with suspense. There aren't any bits that made me afraid to turn the lamp off, but it was very fast paced and I was constantly on the metaphorical edge of my seat because everything was so nutty. I like how Dean Koontz never wastes time, he just goes right into it.
All in all, this was pretty much your regular Odd Thomas book. You know, all the familiar elements. Ragtag set of misfit supporting characters, bad guys under obvious satanic influence, and of course, the awesome prose. Odd as a narrator gets a little more maudlin in this book than in the others ("It wasn't the fact that I killed [those bad guys], it was the fact that I had to kill them that disturbed me."), but he's still good ol' Oddie, trying despite everything to have a positive attitude and work for the best.
And the ending, oh my goodnesses the ending. I thought it was terrificoso. Though there is a bit of a twist, I think it was an interesting interpretation of certain Christian concepts. Though I'm still trying to figure out Annamaria.

The Verdict: A
[sniffle] Ahem. Yeah, I might've maybe sort of cried a little bit at various points in this book. But despite how late it kept me up the day before orchestra (I fell asleep at practice! Again!!), I really like it. The supporting cast is great, the writing is fast, and if you're looking for a good contemporary read, I highly recommend this series. :)

Storage Room: 1st Practice

First off, I would like to dedicate this comic to our orchestra's awesome conductor. Sir, you are very funny, endearing, and great at interpreting the music in unique and inspiring ways. But you also don't cut us slack when we screw up on the first day of practice. But hey, maybe there's misunderstanding on both sides. Hence, this comic.

Keep bein' awesome, sir. Don't let us drive you mad! ;)

Storage Room: ULTIMATE FRISBEE CLASSES

So! Yestarday, me and my mom tried (and spectacularly failed) to drop off paperwork to get me registered for the next semester of classes at Mordor Community College, and I was really in a bad mood yesterday and vented by writing beaucoup de chibi comics.

I'm serious! In the catalogue, I was desperately searching for something to take in case the Political Science class filled up (which it um, is. Hooray for waitlisting!), and what did I find in the PE section? ULTIMATE FRISBEE! Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced! XD

PS- the last Odd Thomas book came out last night and I am rather jazzed about that. Just thought I'd drop that out there in the open. :D

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg [1964]

So! For French class, we had to watch one movie En Francais, and that proved to be a very difficult task. There are a lot of movies I really like in other foreign languages, like Shall We Dance? (Japanese), Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish), and Rare Exports (Finnish!), but oddly enough, I've never seen a movie in French! And as I explored the options... none were jumping out at me. Yes, even Amelie didn't sound all that appealing to me (well, it did, but there is a lot of stuff in that movie I don't think the initial charm and creativity is worth sitting through for). So then there was this movie.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a very different sort of movie. All of the dialogue in this movie is sung, like an opera. Even the most casual conversations and exchanges are sung to a melody. Pretty cool, n'est-ce pas? The film is also renowned for its beautiful, vibrant colors. Okay, some of the wallpapers in this movie are ghastly, but most of the colors are really pretty. XD
So, that was the appeal. The only qualm I had going in was that this movie is a romance, and I'm cautious about romance because there is always the risk of lover-centric-ness in these movies. You know, where absolutely NOTHING matters except the love of our two heroes! The love of other people is phoney and easily collapsed, but the two heroes share a love unbreakable!
But as it turns out, this movie is way better than that.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is about young Genevieve and her boyfriend Guy, who share a relatively innocent relationship that Genevieve's mother doesn't really approve of. A wrench gets thrown in the lovers' plans however, when Guy is drafted into the army. Unfortunately, the night before he leaves, Guy and Genevieve get up to some- ahem- shenanigans, and a few months later Genevieve discovers that she is pregnant. So she has a tough choice. Wait two years for Guy to come back, or save face by marrying the kind-hearted (and rich!) Roland Cassard.
There are some things in this movie that totally caught me off guard. In any other movie, the mom and Roland would both be nasty people who don't want Genevieve to be happy, blah, blah, blah. However, bossy as she is, Genevieve's mother is a decent person, and Roland doesn't want to force Genevieve into something she doesn't want to do. You can see that he is a kind man who sincerely wants her to be happy. I'd elaborate on the whole Roland/Genevieve thing, but I don't want to give away spoilers. This movie is one that you really don't want spoiled, because it kind of kills the ending.
There are some flaws. I know that it's supposed to show that Genevieve is immature and has growing up to do, but in the beginning of the movie, her impetuous 'We're in love and you can't stop us!' attitude got on my nerves a little bit. Only a little bit. But still. And I have a few qualms about something that happens later in the movie, but yeah. Rule of Spoilers dictates that I can't elaborate on that. Meh.
So! As a musical film, the one of the most important things to get right is of course, the music! I recently listened to Oliver!, and really just didn't like it. The reason? The drab score! It doesn't matter if the story is good and the character arcs are touching. If the score is lack-luster and only has one or two songs that are really appealing, then it's not going to be much fun to watch said musical. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on the other hand, has a very good score. While there are not strict 'songs', since the lyrics are just conversations and such, the little tunes are very nice, and there is one that is just plain amazing. But yes, there are a few moments where it is glaringly obvious that it's the 60's. Bongo drums, wee!! XD
The main melody, which is relatively famous, is a real masterpiece. I can't even describe it, just watch the opening credits down there and you'll see what I mean. It's gorgeous, and pops up many times in the movie. :)
Let's see, what else... I really liked the cinematography, especially the way the opening credits were shot from above. And the ending. I would like to go into details, but that's for maybe another post someday, because I really don't want to give it away. But it's a good ending.

The Verdict: A-
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a movie about two completely normal people, and the choices they make and how that shapes their future lives for better or worse. With the ending especially, there seems to be the theme that even if things don't go the way you planned, it's not the end of the world. I think that this movie is quite the piece of art. It's a little different, and maybe hard for some people to get used to, but it's a lovely little movie that if you like musicals and French stuff, you probably will appreciate. :)

Content Advisory: There is one instance of extramarital sex, but nothing is shown. The camera cuts away as soon as they start to kiss. And later, a dude visits a seedy bar and spends the night with a hooker (yeah, I'm not a fan of that part). Again, nothing explicit is seen, but it's quite clear what was going on.

The Count of Monte Cristo Chibis! + The Gargantaur Rosca!

I loved this book. Very easily one of my favorite books ever, and you know what that means! Chibi cast!

Voila! I hope you like them! Sorry the pictures are a bit small, this is as big as I could get it without blogger going all insane on me and making it so big it blots out the sun.
Oh, speaking of things that blot out the sun...

Check out this Rosca that we found at El Super! It's HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGEEEEEE!!!

Storage Room: Rene's Date

Poor Rene has no idea what to do when a friendly girl asks him to eat lunch with her.

Poor guy.

The Count of Monte Cristo [1844] Video Review!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, TOUT LE MONDE!!!
Ahem. On December 30th, I finished The Count of Monte Cristo, and the following day I somehow managed to film the video and post it! Usually there's at least a week's delay between filming and posting, but this time I did it quickly and efficiently. :D