A to Z: Heroes

The definition of a hero (according to google, where I get all my information) is a person who is admired for courage or noble qualities. It also says something about men and good qualities, but I think heroes are women too.

My personal definition of a hero is someone who looks out for other people, who is selfless and kind and isn't afraid of getting their hands dirty for the good of others. That includes a lot of people. There are in particular some professions that are worthy of the title 'Hero'. These include Doctors and Nurses, Police Officers, Firefighters, Care Workers, Social Workers, anyone doing charity work. Even, if I may be so bold, Politicians. If I missed any other heroic professions out, sorry, but that's all I could think of. Isn't it nice that some people get paid to be heroes?

 Then there are personal heroes. For a lot of us I would think that includes our parents. It definitely does for me. My mum is even a Nurse, so I guess that's doubly heroic. For others personal heroes can be actors or TV personalities, or even musicians. This is where we step into somewhat darker territory. Often it's children and teenagers who idolise these kinds of people, but often they're not the kind of people they should idolise. For example, Justin Bieber. Why, oh why would that kid ever be a role model? So I think perhaps it's more healthy for children and teens to idolise someone they know, because then they see all the human brilliance and weakness inside us, and then use it to their own advantage, instead of following someone they don't know blindly.

Milo Ventimiglia from the TV Show Heroes. Google came up with him because he is so very pretty,
and I thought his face may attract more visitors to my humble site.

There are also action heroes and best of all, super heroes. And the TV Show Heroes. Now that was a great show, everyone should watch that show. Anyway, super heroes are rather wonderful. They teach kids to do right and all of these great heroic qualities, whilst showing their human side (be they human or alien) and weaknesses. They are far more realistic, approachable and down to earth, mostly, than real life celebrities.

This brings me to probably the greatest question of them all.
If you were a superhero, who would you be?
And even greater:
What superpower would you have if you could choose one?

My answers are first and foremost: Possibly Mystique from X-Men, when she's not evil.
And, I'd quite like to hear thoughts. I am very nosy. However manipulating the fabric of time and space would be amazing.

How about you? What power would you have?

A to Z: Extra-Terrestrials

David Tennant - My favourite doctor. Image from google.

Today I'd like to talk about aliens because it seemed like fun at the time of thinking of this topic.

Now I'm not so sure, but I'll go with it anyway. Basically, we know nothing about aliens. We don't know if they exist, or whether they would be sentient beings or microorganisms . We don't know if they would be able to communicate us, or think that we're completely worthless and not bother with even trying to communicate.

Some people think that they would invade us, some think that they already have, others think that we're probably not worth bothering with. And anyway, they might not be able to breathe our air and have to wear spacesuits all the time.

Some of the most fun ideas of aliens come from films. The biggest one of all has to be 'E.T :The Extra-Terrestrial'. He's a cute, all round fun guy who doesn't want to hurt us in any way, and neither do his people. All he wants to do is go home, but all we want to do is experiment on him. Shame on us. That's a nice way to view aliens. Avatar is another one which has fairly nice aliens yet mean humans in it.

Doctor Who is my favourite alien. He's a one man (er, kind of) butt-kicking two-hearted heap of awesomeness who can pretty much win anyone's heart (though some of the first few doctors were iffy on the winning hearts thing). He's also usually odd, which I like. He's one of the aliens that loves the earth and wants to save it.

The not so nice way to view aliens can be seen in things like.. say... 'Alien' where they want to kill us or force us to make alien-human hybrids. Gross. 'District 9' also likes disgusting us with fingernails and alien-human hybrids. Signs, Skyline, War of the Worlds and Cloverfield (which I really hated, controversial, I know).

There are some particularly funny films including aliens, such as 'Galaxy Quest', which I absolutely love, and has Alan Rickman in it (what's not to like?). Also 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' is particularly amusing. I recommend them both heartily. Men in Black should also get a mention here, especially the newest one, 'Men in Black 3', because it involved time travel, and I'm a sucker for true sci-fi elements.

Of course the two classic series cannot be missed out. Star wars and Star Trek are both great, though Star Wars, for me, is slightly better because it has six very good films, and funnier lines. However, Star Trek (the re-imagined 2009 one, directed and produced by the awesome J.J Abrams) has Zachary Quinto, and he's a great Spock. Enough said.

Treasure planet wins the prize for the cutest alien. He is a pink blob with a face named Morph. Though he  is a shape-shifter, morph usually stays in his cute form. Some people wrongly believe that this prize should go to 'Lilo and Stitch's' Stitch. No.

Morph, from Treasure Planet.

The prize for one of the worst films with aliens in it goes to 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'. Aliens ruined that film.

What's your favourite alien film? And which was the worst alien film you've ever seen?

It must be love, love, love.

Well, I must say I've looked at this award before and thought, 'well, that looks like fun'. Luckily I didn't have to pay someone to nominate me, as Hannah at Daisies and DMs did! (And Hannah, I'd like to see your answers to my questions too! )
And, I'm pretty excited.

So, I'll copy and paste the guidelines, so hopefully the people I nominate (although I barely know anyone) will know what to do. I barely know myself to be honest.
The Liebster Award. - What to do.
- list 11 things about yourself
- answer the 11 questions the tagger has set for you
- create 11 questions for your nominees
- choose up to 11 bloggers linking them to my post and telling them about it (only nominating blogs with less than 200 followers, and no tag backs.)

 

Right, well, lets go!

Things about yourself

I always find this difficult. Not in choosing things to say, but in thinking them up.

1. I have a massive collection of nail polishes. They're like a comfort, because even when things get tight, I can always paint my nails or get a cheap new nail polish.
2. I hate text speak. HATE it. When people use it on facebook it drives me mad. Texting isn't so bad, but still, I prefer people using full words.
3. Most of the dresses in my wardrobe are black, black and white, or blue. In fact, most of my wardrobe is black and blue. However, I do have two red dresses, one yellow and one green dress.
4. I very much dislike the film 'Groundhog Day'. I don't usually hate films. Except this one.
5. Today I noticed that none of my hobbies involve sports. Although I will get into badminton and hopefully archery soon.
6. I also noticed that most of my celebrity crushes are in their thirties, or very close. I'll give you a few: James Marsden, Jared Leto, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Henry Cavill, Tom Ellis, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Garrett Hedlund (27 is good, but it is getting close to thirty). if you don't know some, look them up. Please.
7. I love quirky Jewellery. From Battenburg Earrings (which I really want) to stamp neacklace (which I have). Love it.
8. Board games. I love them. My favourite is Balderdash.
9. I would like a hamster. It's the only pet I think I could keep.
10. Being thrifty is something that I enjoy. Any excuse to make things and buy good items at bargain prices is right up my street.
11. I can do a five-strand plait. And am very proud of the fact that all of my plaits always turn out well.

Questions to Answer
These are a good set :).
1. What was the first cd (or, if you're old school like me, it might be a tape cassette or something else cool) that you remember loving?
Well, ther was a tape that was always played on long journeys, and that was Aqua's Album 'Aquarium'. It had such classics as: 'Barbie Girl', 'Doctor Jones', 'My Oh My' and 'Turn Back Time'.
2. what's your latest music purchase/download that you're loving?
To be honest I haven't bought or downloaded music in a long time. I usually only buy CDs that I really like. I think the last one was probably Michael Buble. Not in a music phase at the moment.
3. What's your signature scent?
I love fresh, fruity fragrances. So my favourite that I own is Ice Sheers (pear scented) - by Avon. However, I don't think they do it anymore. I also love DKNY be Delicious. It reminds me of Apple and Cucumber. Lovely and fresh. Another that I wear sometimes is Avon's Tahitian Holiday, which smells like coconut and holidays.
4. Have you got a passion or hobby that not many people know about?
I love to write. Stories, poems, lists, ideas, logs. anything. I just enjoy it. I'll always have a pad of paper and multiple pens around in case inspiration hits me.
5. What's the worst job you've ever had and why?
I really did not like having a paper round. It was the middle of summer.me and my sister went on a very long walk complete with newspapers. We braved letterboxes and dogs, and peoples open front doors. And it was awful. At the end our hands would always be black with ink.
6. Let's pretend last night you won the lottery. What are you going to do with the money?
I'd be sensible. Pay off my student loan, put some in a bank account, help my mum and boyfriend pay off their mortgages. Oh, and have a small shopping spree for when I move in with my boyfriend, sofas and all. And clothes. And shoes. ok maybe not so sensible there.
7. Are you a messy or a tidy person?
I am exceptionally messy. You walk into my room, and it's like a nuclear bomb has gone off in a very small space. You WILL trip over things. If you need any proof, please read my blog on how bad my handbag is - The Handbag of Hell.
8. Do you have any tattoos, or any tattoos planned?
Ahh Tattoos. I have six now. Six.
1) My phoenix, on my left shoulder blade.
2) An ivy leaf on my left wrist.
3) Flowers and bugs on my right ankle.
4) Three dots on my neck, on the spine.
5) A key on the right hand side of my torso.
6) A book with an infinity symbol on it behind my left ear.
I kind of pride myself in being able to keep most of them under wraps when I need them to be.
i think I'll always want more.
9. Marmite: love it or hate it?
I'm one of those annoying people that this doesn't work with. I like it. Don't love it, don't hate it. I have it thinly spread on a piece of buttered bread. On occasion.
10. What's your favourite disney film?
Either Hercules or Mulan. I think hercules usually comes first because of the mythology, but I love the story of Mulan. And I love the strong female characters in both. But Hercules is adorable.
11. What would your ideal house be like?
Fairly tidy, but lived in. With random little gadgets, games, films when you want them. Airy and light, with lots of brightly coloured things dotted around. Like a yellow toaster and a red lamp. And cute and bright art on the walls. But mostly it would have to be comfy, and have lots of room for delicious things like marzipan.

Well. Now that's done, I would love to nominate Ed from Empire500, Kyra at Beautyetc, if she looks at this, and Cari from Cari's Book Blog. And I really don't know anyone else. So, if you come on here and find yourself thinking, like me, 'That looks fun!' then YOU ARE NOMINATED to do it. But only if you have less than 200 followers. And tell me you're doing it so I can read your blog :D

The Questions I would like to ask are:
1. What's your favourite food?
2. What's at the top of your wishlist at the moment?
3. What's your favourite movie, and why?
4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
5. If you had lots of money, what's the first thing you would spend it on?
6. Where would you most like to go as a holiday destination?
7. Do you have any celebrity crushes? Particularly embarrassing ones?
8. If there was a film of your life, who would you want to play you?
9. What's your favourite season, and why?
10. If you had to be an animal (real or mythical), what would you be?
11. If you could choose a sense to be heightened, which one would you choose?

I hope people blog with this.
Thanks for reading, and

The 10 Day you Challenge : 1 Picture of Yourself

For the last day of the challenge, it's a picture of yourself.

Well, instead of posting an actual picture (not a good idea for me) I decided the best way to show how I view myself is to write and draw things that I love, and to do a small self-portrait in the middle.

I don't think picture's really show who you are, they're more how you were in that moment, or the face you put on. But drawings and paintings.. and a collage maybe. that really shows what you love.
So I gave myself a little project and this is what I came up with:

I just went ahead and drew it in biro quickly, but I hope it sums me up well. (Reminds me of a childs drawing, but I can't draw people at all.)

To sum it up a little, I'm holding a phone, theres a cupcake, a pencil and paintbrush, lots of nature, a laptop, a book, a handbag, a DVD, some musical notes and a host of random words. oh, and a badly drawn nail polish in the corner. There should be a camera, a holiday and loved ones on here, but I couldn't fit it on the piece of paper (and can't draw them). This shows the things I enjoy, without being too nosy. :)

Thank you for taking your time to read my post, and possibly even the whole challenge (if you did that I'm impressed).

The 10 Day You Challenge : 3 Movies

Movies is also so very difficult. there's a plethora of wonderful movies out there and you want me to choose just three? I'd better make it excellent ones then.


Image from Google

1. Back to the Future 2. My ultimate favourite movie. Better than the first one because it's more complex, and includes bits of the first one. Though I have to say the Johnny B. Goode part is awesome.
I love films that are futuristic. Some favourite ideas from the future come from Minority report and The Fifth Element.

2. Mulan and/or Hercules. I just can't decide which one I prefer, but there has to be a Disney on this list. Both have good, strong women characters, and awesome male characters so I'm happy. For songs though, Hercules wins hands down.

3. Inception. Because the ideas in it are mind-blowing, and I'm a Joseph Gordon-Levitt fan. I could watch it again and again.

Other films I thought about, but didn't quite make the top three are:
- Big Fish
- Up
- The Princess Bride
- Captain America
- Star Trek

The 10 Day You Challenge : 9 Loves

There are so many things to love in the world. To pick just a selct few is hard. So, there are probably far more than this, but heres my (probably) top 9:

1. Family, Friends and my Boyfriend. It has to be top of the list. The rest are in no particular order.

2. Stories and Reading. Anything. I just soak it up, take it all in and think about my view on the subject.

3. The Smell of the Night. you know when it's about 12/1 in the morning and you go to shut your window, but instead you lean out of it an just breathe in the night air. i love that. it's my absolute favourite smell.
I have a thing with smells. I often come out with "It smells like a good night". And it really does. I know what I mean.

4. Interesting Jewellery.  I have a penchant for weird jewellery. One of my favourites is one I bought from a stall at a craft market. It's a vintage-look necklace with an old American stamp inside it (picture of it, left). I'm holding out for some battenburg earrings still.

5.  Marzipan. Everything marzipan. I will get a whole block and sit there eating it as a treat. So fattening, but sooo good. Unfortunately you don't see many marzipan fruits around England these days, but I WILL have some soon.

6. Tea. Glorious tea. I'm drinking some now in fact. No wonder us British love it.

7. Films. Films are a passion. If I've seen one I'll usually know who's in it, and what else they've been in. It's a talent that has very little use.

8. Shopping. Don't most girls? Pretty dresses, gorgeous nail polishes, delicious food treats, killer shoes : heaven.

9. Nature. Because what's more beautiful than nature? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. My particular favourite item in natture are forests. Big, English, woody, mushroomy, bluebell-filled dappled sunshine forests. With cute baby rabbits and deer.

Yay!

The 10 Day You Challenge : 10 Secrets

Picture from Greenestmermaid.blogspot.com

After seeing this Challenge on a friends site (check her out here, she has an amazing sense of style), I was rather intrigued. There are a lot of things on here I haven't really thought about. At least, not for a while. So I'm thinking over the next ten posts I'll be doing some soul-searching and discovering, along with you.

The first is 10 secrets.
I'm not a secretive person as it happens. Usually if I don't want someone to know something I'll sidestep it. I don't like outright lying. But here goes. (This might take a while).

1.  I'm a book addict. It's not much of a secret, but it's a huge part of my life. When I'm not reading a book it doesn't feel right. I have to have a book on the go. To this end I also have a very large collection of books, and have trouble deciding which ones I should throw out/ give to charity because I always think that I might want to read them again.
I also have an amazon wish list the size of Kent.

2. I don't like Cats. At all. Kittens, fine, but not in the flesh. Cats, just no. They're pure evil. As mentioned in my post, Cats are Pure Evil. Of course, not really much of a secret, as I have posted about it before.

3. I worry that I'll never find a job I really enjoy. This probably has something to do with the fact that I'm unemployed. It's also rooted in fears that I can't get at the kind of job I want just yet, because they're not really recruiting in my field at the moment.

4. I love mythology and folk tales.  Pretty much always have. I prefer to read books partially based on them too.

5. I want a Herbs and Spices Rack. Because I enjoy using them in cooking quite a lot. Most of the time it turns out alright, but I have been known to overdo it with the garlic and the basil.

6. I had a goth phase. A very goth phase, in my early teens. Let's not go into it, my fashion sense hasn't really improved that much, I still manage to wear more black than any other colour. I noticed that the majority of my dresses are black and white, or navy blue. And oh, look, I'm wearing a black t-shirt today.

7. I like being alone. Sometimes, you just need a time-out. An hour or two being fully alone is like a small haven. I can watch what I want, read what I want, just think about things or listen to music. Perfect.


Image from Google

8. I cry at films really easily. The top contenders for crying: Titanic, Tangled, Moulin Rouge, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, The Green Mile. Yep, a Disney Film makes me want to cry.

9. I always have a craft/sewing project on the go. Or an idea for one. At the moment it's a bag made from an old top and jeans. I made the jeans into shorts and am using the leftovers. This time I'll be giving it a go of lining it with a lovely soft fleecey material.

10. I used to write angsty poetry. Now I write epic poetry and alternative fairy tales.

An extra secret, or thing that people don't really know about me, is that I'm an organ donor. i just wanted to mention it as I think it's something people should think about doing.

This has been a lot more difficult than anticipated, and more embarrassing.

'Bofiloksms' - Why Books and Films don't mix.

Adapting books into films. You'd think that the film makers would have learned their lesson by now. Where has this seemingly endless fascination with adaptations come from?

Sure they'd realise by now that most of them are pretty much doomed to failure.

Especially if the book is a good one.

We'll take, for example Children's books.

Always irreversibly ruined by the film industry.

I give you here as examples Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series, Darren Shan's Cirque Du Freak Series and Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle (Including Eragon) series. Of course, these adaptations are now virtually unheard of. A. Because they're a bit pants in comparison to the books and B. because they haven't even made a second film adaptation for any of these series.

Inkheart Book Cover.

Some are in fact horrifically massacred. A favourite of mine is the Inkworld Series by Cornelia Funke. It's set in a beautifully crafted world which absorbs the reader right into it, quite literally. The characters are lovable and interesting, with their bad sides on show for everyone to see. But the film version just takes the book and does a number 2 on it.

Brendan Fraser and Helen Mirren are fine in their own way, but they are definitely not at their best. The story completely lacks the ethereal beauty and description of the books and turns a novel into generic children's film. As I'm sure you can tell, I was not best pleased.

Saying this, some adaptations have been hugely successful. This includes J.K Rowling's Harry Potter, Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, J.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and C.S Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia Franchises. Though some of these books are deemed of bad quality and little inspiration, the film have nevertheless been adored by millions of people around the world. Harry Potter and Twilight are always seen to be competing for both bad press and the headlines, fans seemingly both overjoyed and outraged at the differences between the books and the films of each.

Whereas the Chronicles of Narnia are a light read and watch, and in my opinion have the warmth, simplicity and charm you expect from an older styled book, reminiscent of Enid Blyton and Beatrix Potter.

Lord of the Rings, however was made into an adventure epic that seemed to overshadow the book, but missed out some of the more intricate and perhaps necessary plot points.

Some film adaptations have had me screaming at them. OK, quite a few. The Time Machine, for example, had me raging at it's incapability to be even remotely based on the interesting H.G Wells novella. Once you've plodded your way through the obscure wording and far-reaching concepts you really want the film to be slightly like it. The film, instead, was a study on a man trying to bring back his loved one, but ending up going into the future and trying to help a future race.
Yes, this is vaguely the storyline of the book, except the future race are very, very different and there is no loved one. He travels simply for the knowledge and excitement.

Also an interesting, rather than good adaptation of the same kind is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I was put off of the film automatically because it seemed to me to be trying to make the story too action-y. And the ending was a far cry from the events of the book, but still a good one. Ben Barnes would not have been my choice for Dorian either, his character lacks the subtlety that I would have liked. Not a film I would see again.

The three Alice's. 1.Book
2. Original Disney Cartoon
3. Tim Burton Disney film

Perhaps one of the best adaptations I have seen would be Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. It captures the devilish and oddball side of the story that the older Disney version lacks. Although not sticking to the original stories, it doesn't need to. It's a new story about Alice, and a good one at that. (Also see Lewis Carrols Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

One area I haven't covered yet, mainly because it's so trashily awful, is the comic book genre. Spiderman, Superman, Watchmen, Catwoman, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Batman, Iron Man.. you name it, it's been ruined.
The film versions of comics are always going to be a little crap with a general mixing of story lines. Mainly because the story lines of comics changes so much. But when they get something really wrong, it makes comic geeks out there furious. And the hugely successful Spiderman franchise is an example of this. It doesn't follow story lines and the characters are out of place and sometimes just plain wrong.
Most of these comic based films completely miss out on their fan base because they don't use the better story lines, the characters are one-sided and are more child-oriented than their comic counterparts.

And perhaps some other good ones are more of the older style books. Such as Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula, depending on which versions you choose. But generally these book make good films because of their originality. The way that they can be adapted in a variety of ways that still makes sense.

If you watch these adapted films alone, they're OK, sure. But when you read the book your estimation of them just crashes down around your feet. It's very rare to find a film that matches up to the book, let alone is better than it, although for me Narnia comes close.

Although most films seem to bare no resemblance to their book counterparts, here the Guardian lists some films that apparently do:  Guardian's Top 50 good adaptations - This includes Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sin City, Dangerous Liaisons and The Remains of the Day.

On the other hand here is A list of 20 Good Books made into awful Movies. This includes Bicentennial Man, Stardust (a favourite book, and a horrifically child-oriented film), The Shining, Breakfast at Tiffany's (Although there is some debate about that one, some say it's brilliant, and some say it's awful), The Black Cauldron and a Mention of other classics such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mary Poppins.

 So there you have it. Books and films just don't mix. You know it. I know it.
So a notice to film studios everywhere: Just don't do it. And if you do, make sure it's a rubbish book that you can make better.

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This blog was written with inspiration from http://empire500.blogspot.com/ - A blog reviewing films from Empire Magazines 500 5 Star Rated films of all time. Thank you :).

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And for those who read this only to see if there was a picture of twilight.. I'll give in to your needs. Only this picture will be a nice, natural picture. Shirts on:

There you go. I hope you're happy.

 OK, I lied completely, but he does have a very chiseled body.

 (All images from a google search)