Hanorah Words

I've been thinking a lot about the idea of soul mates lately and how it is used in books in movies.  It's a complicated subject for me because there are a lot  of ways the idea of soul mates, soul bonds, etc. can be used in terrible, uncreative, and even idiotic ways.  On the other hand, when they're used somewhat well, you can give them or take them from the story.  They don't really matter much.  It's just like, "Oh... and they're soul mates, by the way." It's like an afterthought  and incredibly lame.  When used right--and there are a lot of different ways the idea of soul mates can  be used right--it's magical.  It's amazing.  It makes me like  soul mates. So, some background, because I always have some story that explains my view on a certain subject and if you've gotten this far into the blog, you should know this already.  I do and I don't believe in real, genuine, actual soul mates existing in this world.  See, ...

Now, some of you read the title and thought, "What in the great googly-moogly is this?" Other's opened the page and see the poster as well as Heath Ledger's face and think, "Wow! There's the Joker before he died! What's this about?"  Other's have read these sentences and laughed to themselves and felt superior. For those of you who have never seen this film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus  is a 2009 fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown about a traveling theater troupe whose leader has made a bet with the devil which involves the leader taking people through a magic mirror that explores their imaginations and presents them with a choice between enlightenment or self-gratifying ignorance.  It's also the real  last movie Heath Ledger was in before he died, not The Dark Knight  like everyone seems to think. In fact, Heath Ledger died while one third of the way through filming, suspen...

For those of you unfortunately out of the old movie, comedy loop, Arsenic and Old Lace  is a 1944 Cary Grant comedy about a drama critic who learns on his wedding day that his beloved maiden aunts are homicidal maniacs and the insanity runs in his family.  Just so you know, that first sentence should've made you close your computer down and run out and get that movie so you can watch it.  For those of you who download movies, you should be already downloading it by this sentence, waiting impatiently for there to be enough subscribers so you can watch the darned thing. If you are still reading this, let me tell you something: this is one of my all-time favorite movies.  It was directed by Frank Capra and based on Joseph Kesselring's play of the same name.  The film was actually  filmed in 1941, but it wasn't released until after the stage play had finished it's run on Broadway.  Why?  Because the movie is so funny that you don't need to see i...

Because he has stamina... Sunday at 4:45 PM, I went to the local theater and watched The Dark Knight Rises .  Sometime in the next week, you must also go see this movie.  Do not  wait for it to come out on video.  Do not become a scared little weenie just because some crazy twenty-four-year-old in Colorado decided to ruin it for some people by killing them.  (Seriously, worst crime ever.) So... Where do I begin? How do I write this review?  Because I'm not going to tell you a damn thing about it that give anything  away.  Nope.  You have to watch it to see how it begins and ends.  So... I guess I'll tell you about the cast first. Yes, the cast...  Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman all did excellent jobs as they did in the first three movies.  Michael Caine made me cry, bastard.  Then again, he always makes me cry because he reminds me of my grandpa if he were British and didn't ha...

There will be series spoilers in this review.  If you don't like it... Eat a fish. When I was younger, I liked vampires and witches and teen-romance-ish novels.  I was completely in love with Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' books. Into my teenage year, my friend, Gretchen, introduced the series Sweep  by Cate Tiernan which began several things.  First, it along with Circle of Three  by Isobel Bird began my long time interest in Wicca, paganism, and the practiced of magic in the real world.  Second, it kick-started whatever part of my brain was wired for "girlie" stuff, like an interest in romance novels.  I like to think that the fact that both interests were born from the same source makes me an interesting kid, but I'm probably wrong. So... Sweep  is a fifteen-book long FICTIONAL series about a girl named Morgan Rowlands who discovers that she's a descendant of a long line of powerful witches and must then battle dark and sinister forces of m...

When I was thirteen years old, I really liked to write.  My friend, Gretchen, and I had been writing half-finished books for two years about whatever we were interested in whether it was witches, vampires, teens with super-powers, fairies... If it came into our sphere of interest, we were writing about it and researching it.  I even wrote outlines for a couple of Dungeons & Dragons-based stories independent of Gretchen. My big dream was to be a published author with people my age  reading the books and loving them. For the young teenage me, that was the best thing ever.  I wasn't popular or known to other people.  I could't sing.  I couldn't act.  I had barely any talent at drawing or any art like that.  However, I could write  and so could my friend, Gretchen, and someday we were going to be famous authors. This was before J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series really  mattered to me.  As far as I was concerned, it was j...

So... when I was explaining my history with anime and manga, I mentioned that my cousin, Alex got me into Ouran High School Host Club.  It's actually a pretty funny story.  See, I was spending and inordinate amount of time at my apartment holed up in the bedroom watching anime on my computer.  Then, I went to my grandma's for the night or weekend or something and met up with my cousin Alex and we started talking about anime because that was what was on my mind.  Then Alex pulls out a computer (her dad's or mine) and she (Alex is short for Alexandria) goes to www.youtube.com and finds the first episode of Ouran High School Host Club and tells me to watch it. One episode and I was hooked .  The premise, the way the story was told, everything was damn  funny.  It's one thing I like about manga story-telling as opposed to the way American's do it.  Terry Pratchett manages it too.  There's always these larger-than-life characters who ten...

 When I first got into anime and manga, I really didn't know what I was getting into or that I wanted to get into it.  My biggest exposure several years ago amounted essentially to the movies of Hayao Miyazaki and AMV Heaven by ThatDudeintheSuede or just "Suede".  I also had seen a few episodes of Naruto and  Fullmetal Alchemist (the first series) and I had formerly been a fan of the Pokemon animated series.  I may or may not have been into Avatar:The Last Airbender around that time which isn't anime, but animesque.  Then, I was looking through the video suggestions below Suede's videos and I caught the video above.  It was created by Marisa Panaccio of Tiridium Studios and, if you watch it, it's a pretty well-done AMV (anime music video).  Though very basic, the timing is perfect and it showcases a very interesting anime.  However, I didn't dive into anime right then. Instead I talked to my friend at the time, Morgan,...

This is not a review. I'm telling you that at the top of this page because it's important.  I'll even repeat it. This. Is. Not. A. Review. I cannot review the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien because I've never actually read the books in full.  The last time I tried, I got to the end of The Two Towers  and I just gave up.  I couldn't read anymore. This post is about my problems reading the books that have become the blueprint for every stupid fantasy since they were published. Now, it wasn't for lack of trying, you see. I've tried to read the books about half a dozen times since the movies came out.  I really have. I've listened to the BBC radio version.  I've heard it's a good adaption.  It kept Tom Bombadil in and that made me extremely happy because that part of the books was my favorite. I've read about  the series.  I've read the Wikipedia page, I've dug up reviews of the series.  I've had my ear ...

Now, I don't know about most people, but I love audiobooks.  Many books I can't stomach (like Twilight  by Stephanie Meyer), I can actually stomach if I listen to them.  Other books (like Pride and Prejudice  by Jane Austen), I didn't truly learn to enjoy until I listened to them on audiobook.  More books, I find a deeper meaning to them when I listen to them on audiobook because it's a lot easier for me to visualize the novel when I listen to it rather than read it even though I'm not sure why... I'll admit it; I'm an audiobook fiend . If the reader is particularly good or if it's done in a unique way, I can listen to an audiobook for hours ... when I'm at home and don't even need  to listen to the book at all.  It's an interesting medium and in some ways, certain books just feel like they're meant to be read out loud to me. For example, I listened to Sabriel  by Garth Nix on audiobook.  The library had the book available, but I d...

 Fruits Basket is a Japanese shojo manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya.  It is also a TV anime available by the FUNimation Channel directed by Akitairo Daichi and written by Higuchi Tachibana which was available on Netfilx last I checked.  JesuOtaku over on ThatGuyWiththeGlasses.com  has also created a radiodarma based on the series.  It is an awesome adaption of a pretty interesting manga. The story is centered around Tohru Honda, a high school student who's mother recently died in a car accident. First, she lived with her grandfather, but when her grandfather's house needs to be renovated so that more  people can moved in (his son's family?), Tohru chooses to live in a tent in the woods and support herself.  Don't worry, the situation does not last long because she is quickly found by Shigure and Yuki Sohma.  Yuki is the "Prince" of her school and generally the most popular, hottest boy around.  Shigure is....

I make no secret that I prefer Batman to Superman.  A lot of people have made a lot of arguments previously for why Batman is better than Superman.  A lot of strange and alien people have made a lot of arguments for why Superman is better than Batman; sadly my cousin, Jillian, is one of those strange people.  However, it wasn't until recently when I was thinking over a conversation with my career counselor that I realized the reason why Batman is better than Superman especially to me . See, I've made the arguments. I've written the required statements about how Batman would beat Superman because he's crazy prepared and has a nice chunk of Kryptonite in case Supes ever goes rogue blah, blah, blah... However, why is Batman and inspiration to me while Superman isn't?  They both work to improve the world.  They both have a strict moral code that prevents them from killing people.  They both have a huge weakness for women. So why Batman over Superman? ...

This question has been asked a long time by a lot of people and answered in various way by a lot of people.  Writers ask it of themselves all the time.  Why do I write? Why do I  write? It's a simple question.  Why?  Why make up stories? Why write them down? Why try to get published facing rejection, poverty, loss of dreams, etc? Why  do I write? It's not an easy choice to make, choosing to write, showing people what you've written.  I mean, creating something is hard enough, but when you put words to paper, you don't always know if people will like  what they've read, let alone understand  the meaning behind what you've written.  I always feel anxiety when I write a story down, just a chapter or two and I give it to someone else to read.  My heart stops as I hand it over and then it starts racing. As the person reads it, I feel naked.  I created that story.  That story is part of me.  Now I'm giving my stor...