Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Dreamland

It's soo early in the morning and I think I'm more tired now getting up than before I actually got any sleep, so I probably should have just stayed awake until now and slept on the plane. Yup, that's right, the plane. Cause I'm going to China today!!!! I'm too busy now loading all the luggage and checking that nothing's been forgotten to really post, but be assured that I'll be posting from China ;) Well, maybe I'll be too busy having fun and eating good food.. Haha.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Finals

Everyone around me is studying so hard and stressing out about their final exams, but for the most part I'm just breezing my way through.. I feel like I'm being so lazy and idiotic like I'm gambling with my future even though my lowest grade is a 96 right now. Ugh. I was feeling so nice and relaxed but with everyone around me studying and me just doing practically nothing, I can't help but feel really guilty, like I don't care about my future or something. But I do, it's just that this semester I'm pretty confident in my own abilities. The doubts of others have affected me though and now I feel a mad need to just study through the night. I think I'll just sleep instead -.-"

Catnip

"In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives." This is the storyline of Suzanne Collins' popular novel The Hunger Games.

As devoted fans know, movie contracts have been signed and casting has been slowly released. Here are the parts known thus far:

First off are the three main characters, Katniss Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne, and Peeta Mellark. Their roles will be played by Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, and Josh Hutcherson respectively.

The Tributes-
District 1: Marvel: Jack Quaid & Glimmer: Leven Rambin
District 2: Cato: Alexander Ludwig & Clove: Isabelle Fuhrman
District 3: Ian Nelson & Kalia Prescott
District 4: Ethan Jamieson & Tara Macken
District 5: Chris Mark & Foxface: Jacqueline Emerson
District 6: Ashton Moio & Kara Petersen
District 7: Sam Ly & Leigha Hancock
-Sam has been in a couple of martial arts films and Leigha is a gymnast who does the stunts on 'Make It or Break It'.
District 8: Samuel Tan & Mackenzie Lintz
-Mackenzie's family website says that she got far in the 'True Grit' casting process, which means she may be a talent to watch. Her sister, Madi, is on the AMC series, 'The Walking Dead.'
District 9: Imanol Yepez-Frias & Annie Thurman
District 10: Jeremy Martines & Dakota Hood
-Jeremy is a stunt guy and also part of the LXD, which is the crazy good dance group that came to national attention because of their star dancer, Harry Shum Jr. from 'Glee.' Jeremy's credits include 'The Expendables,' 'The Green Hornet,' the upcoming 'Sherlock Holmes' film and an episode of 'Community.' Dakota Hood is relatively unknown, like most of the Tributes, but she was part of the American Idol Experience.
District 11: Thresh: Dayo Okeniyi & Rue: Amandla Stenberg
District 12: Katniss Everdeen: Jennifer Lawrence & Peeta Mellark: Josh Hutcherson

Haymitch Abernathy: Woody Harrelson
Effie Trinkett: Elizabeth Banks
Seneca Crane: Wes Bentley
Prim Everdeen: Willow Shields
Mrs. Everdeen: Paula Malcomson
Caesar Flickerman: Stanley Tucci
Portia: Latarsha Rose
Octavia: Brooke Bundy

Cinna, Madge, President Snow and a few other characters have not yet been cast. Any ideas or preferences as to who plays what? What are your opinions on the cast so far? I think it's pretty good and I'll definitely be watching the movie when it comes out, but Josh Hutcherson doesn't exactly fit my idea of Peeta so we'll just have to wait and see how he does. Anyone else planning on attending the premier? I just can't wait to see if the movie matches my visualizations of the book.

Here's the first image release of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Does she look like you imagine Katniss? I was skeptic about how well she would do at first since she was just so blond and smiley, but this picture really calms my doubts and I think she'll do Katniss justice. Hopefully my doubts about Josh were unfounded as well and the movie will really shock me by how it brings the novel to life. Guess I'll just have to wait and see like everyone else.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Judgement Day

Well, it's the 22nd of May and we're all still here so I'll just make the assumption that the world didn't end on the 21st. Now all we have to do is wait and see if 2012 really happens. Obviously I don't put much stock in the idea, but even the most assured will always have room for at least a small corner of doubt. Who knows, maybe the Aztecs did know something we didn't. Maybe the zombie apocalypse will occur, since the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) warns us that we should be prepared for any type of natural disaster at all, including a zombie outbreak. In fact, the CDC recommends reading The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks in order to prepare for a possible attack. The book was featured on the New York Times Bestseller's List and has six chapters, The Undead: Myths and Realities; Weapons and Combat Techniques;On the Defense; On the Run; On the Attack; and Living in an Undead World. Hope I'll still be seeing all of you out there in 2012. Good luck and keep your fingers crossed.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Sweaty..

Just finished my ballet audition and I think I did ten times worse than usual. Ugh. I just crack under pressure and then mess up everything. I concentrate so much on one move that I mess up everything preceding it and so mess the one move up that I'm concentrating on as well. Oh horseradishes, now I have to go practice for my violin audition tomorrow..Will my life never know freedom? Haha, knowing me, I'll probably stress out while I'm playing and kill the music. So I guess I really do need to go practice right this moment, forget lunch.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Intense.

Just saw Thor in 3D and Fast Five tonight with my best friend!!!!!!!!! Haha, we only bought tickets for Thor and then just snuck into Fast Five and I feel kinda bad for doing so, but isn't that what everyone else does? Anyyyways, I'm not going to dwell on a question of ethics right at this moment. I'm too busy being delighted over how amazing the movies were. It's really late right now though so I can't say as much as I would like to on the topic. Doesn't it seem like that's always the case for me? I promise I don't do it on purpose though, it's just that practically th only free time I ever have is a few minutes at night.

So Thor was great except *spoiler alert* Loki ends up just letting go of his life and falling into space. I was so disappointed that he just let go, though it does show that he actually has a good side to him and isn't all evil. I loved his character so much and how he turned out was rather depressing. And then Thor is really only with Jane for a max of three days, during which they strike up an intense love that keeps them searching for each other. Seemed really shallow and unrealistic to me, but it was okay. The movie was great though and the plot and characters kept me riveted the entire time. Thor had some pretty beautiful eyes ;)

Fast Five on the other hand started off really really slow. And confusing. Only towards the middle did it pick up, but when the plot did start unraveling, it spun out extremely quickly and there was hardly a moment where I felt like I could take a breath. Some of the characters were just so ripped it was almost scary and there some very fine cars as well. Haha, the car chase scene towards the end was about thirty minutes long and it was so dramatic and beautiful. Ahh, I kind of want to go back and watch both movies again.

I have a lot more to say about both movies but I don't want to spoil the plot for any possible readers that I might have. And considering it's now 12:23 and I am going to be really busy tomorrow and on the weekend, I should probably listen to my complaining body and just get some sleep. Night everyone!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Fly

Across the Lethe River and in Charon's boat, my soul lingers longingly, glancing at the scenery of the afterlife. Oh! There are the sweet, lush fields of Elysian fields. An island paradise surrounded by sparkling turquoise water. Orchards in abundance and hums of joy drifting on the cool breezes. Farther away are the Asphodel Fields, endless in its nothingless. Densely packed full of mournful souls, crying out for an ending to the monotony of an endless existence. Then just a speck of dust in the corner of my eye, Tartarus breathes and shudders, a horror which exists only to terrorize the existence of others.

I've been so excited this entire week because our dance recital was this week and it actually went fairly successfully this time. Our class had on this gentle, spring green skirts with poofy white shirts, a tight corset, flowers in our hair, and some ribbons on the puffed sleeves. It was beautiful. Naturally I was dying to get to the photo shoot by Keiko Guest Photography at the studio as this was the first year that my parents have agreed to it. With my beautiful satin pointe shoes on, makeup carefully primmed by mom, and costume painstakingly smoothed, I set into the shooting room with a racing heart, big smile, and sky high expectations. Apparently my expectations were just too high to be realistic at all for me and I had overexcited myself for the event. The resulting photos weren't exactly awful, but I don't dare post them as my profile picture either. All in all, my poor inflated dreams were crushed by my own lack of skill and poise. Guess I'll be waiting until next year now..when I'll be able to enter the room again with renewed confidence and thoughts of improving since this year. Maybe I will improve, but I'll also most certainly never achieve the sparkly, pristine visions that just swirl through my head.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

New Drama Unveiled!

About this time last year I posted about the manga Hana Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e). Well, this time I'm here to spread word that SM Entertainment is set on producing a drama version of it this summer! For those unfamiliar with the name, SM is a Korean company with the popular boy groups SHINee and Super Junior among others. As representatives from the company revealed “The Korean version will have a total of 16 episodes that draw out stories of hopes and dreams. It’s a teenage comedy with a cute, but strong storyline and a slew of handsome cast members. We’re planning to begin airing it this summer.” Previously there have been Japanese and Taiwanese adaptations of the manga, but I'm hoping that this will be the best one yet as I'm looking forward to seeing my favorite boys cast inside. Not that I can really judge though, as I haven't had the fortune to view the two other versions. However, this one I definitely will not miss! Does anyone else know what they're going to be doing this summer? ;) Because I surely do.

Future notices may be posted as the cast is publicized. However, it depends on my schedule because now is also the time of year for the dreaded AP Exams -.-"