down and out - on - murder mile

I really liked fucked-up books. Suicides, drug addictions, rape, death. Tragedies. Things too terrible to see in the light of day. That's why I love this book.

I was originally draw to this book because it is yellow. But, as I flipped through the pages, I was thrown into the story of a heroin addict and his junkie wife with a narrator's voice like this sound of the city. It's raw. Scary. Real. Honest. Beautiful. It discusses addiction, love, hate, beauty, fear, the façade of real life. 

It's a fast read.

Read it. 

sinfest - fest of sin - tsefnis

Sinfest has become one of my favorite comics ever. It covers just about everything - love, religion, good, evil, sex, rejection, indulgence, porn - with clever dialog and beautiful lineart. Multiple sets of stories (Slick and Monique, God and Devil, Pooch and Percy) flow together to create a comic that will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you say, "What the fuck did I just read."

Highly recommended. Brilliant.

juno - juno - juno

i think that it's just about time to do a post about the movie "juno". obviously, the movie is entirely founded on clever dialouge ("that ain't no etch-a-sketch; this is one doodle that can't be undid, homeskillet.", "i figured you could never have enough of your favorite one-calorie breath mint.", etc.) and witty, random characters, but is overall a fucking awesome movie. this is my favorite scene and i think it gives you a pretty much solid look at what "juno"'s all about:

also, the soundtrack is a fantastic array of indie-rock. it's awesome. 

infidel - infidèle - ungläubiger

 

i read "infidel" by ayaan hirsi ali in less than 48 hours, which is good for me, considering it was a memoir. it was absolutely fantastic - to be thrust into the extremism of tradition muslim culture is astounding. it is an amazing capture of life and survival. recommended. on the scale of one to ten, this one goes to eleven. 

goucher - college - future

(i couldn't get the video embedded correctly, so go here.)

i have found a college. i know this may come as a surprise to all of you, seeing that i've been extremely undecided about what i'm going to do after my high school graduation, but i have (officially) found my 'perfect' college.

it's a small school (under 2000 students) that has independent study and required study abroad. i could see myself going to goucher and will do my best to get in.

billboard - wwf - awesome

this awesome billboard built by wwf. innovative and pretty much one of the best billboards that i've ever seen.

sorry for the extremely short post, but i have work to do. excuse me...

markers - prismacolors - excuses

first of all, please excuse the little hiatus. i'm really trying to update this blog regularly, but sometimes i can't think of a post idea/i don't have the time/i'm not in the mood/the sun is in my eyes/insert some lame-ass excuse here.

also, sorry about the lack of picture, but, don't worry - there will be more soon.

i got prismacolors! and faber-castell pigment liners! and cool bleed-proof paper! it's very exciting. i've been wanting to do more with markers after seeing camille's inspirational marker work, but all i had was my brother's old dried-up primsacolors (the fine tips were unusable and the colors were dull). so, i finally shelled out $30 and got five markers and a pack of pigment liners and quality paper!

i love markers. i've been messing around with colored pencils but, damn. it takes a really long time to color in something all smooth-like. markers are quick, convenient, and really fun.

"i was kidnapped by lesbian pirates from outer space"

sorry - this is two reviews in a row, but i feel as if i need to share this comic with the (very few!) readers of this blog. this insanely witty comic is the story about a susan bell, a normal girl kidnapped by lesbian pirates from outer space to travel throughout the galaxy while outwitting male man, sally speed, and, of course, the notorious gay ninjas from mars. fantastic artwork, clever dialog, and absolutely hilarious characters.

go check it out. highly recommended.

the dark knight

i have now seen "the dark knight" twice. i am not ashamed to admit this fact. in fact, i would consider seeing it another time, it's that good.



 this movie is unlike any other superhero movie i've ever seen. i think this is partly because batman is not necessarily a hero; he does not always do what would be considered the right thing to do. also, heath ledger completely revolutionized the concept of the joker. obviously, jack nicholson's portrayal was much more like the comic book joker, while ledger made the joker so much more tangible:

ledger's interpretation of the joker was much more psychotic, instead of simply being bizarre. he made every scene he was in incredibly profound (in a sick and twisted way). from imdb: "In "The Dark Knight", the late Heath Ledger portrayed The Joker as a completely psychotic and demonic killer. Any humor that the character shows is sardonic and cruel. Ledger's Joker was a personification of anarchy and chaos. His primary goal seems to be to prove that people, in dire situations, are just as sick and horrible as he is. This Joker's most frightening and dangerous asset is his intelligence. He says late in the film, "If I were to kill a gangbanger or blow up a tank full of soldiers, no one would mind because it's all.....part of the plan." Thus, The Joker's plan is to not have one and show that there doesn't have to be a reason to everything: chaos."

i have not stopped thinking about this movie since i saw it. i would definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone.

alice - storytelling alice

alice is a free educational programming software from cmu. it teaches computer programming in a 3d world that you build. from the website: "Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a freely available teaching tool designed to be a student's first exposure to object-oriented programming."

i've been messing around with storytelling alice, which seemed like an easier, more story-based program. its intuitive format has introduced me to a world of combining story-telling with computer programming and would suggest it to anyone who's ever been interested in computer animation.