A novice's journey into the world of manga creation (because I don't trust my brain to remember it all)
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
She's Not Going: Dreamgirl Hudson and Goodies
I have been wearing out this track on TouTube lately; Jennifer Hudson is ah-MAZE-ing. (Is below too.) I went and watched the original from Jennifer Holliday when she performed it at the Tony's, and this completely does it justice.
Here are some clips from the movie. EW had a good article about making the movie a few weeks ago, which I will try to look up later. Oh, and how could I not include my fave Ugly Betty clip of Marc and Amanda singing the title track!
Crap, life does not love me today. I think I shorted my keyboard: static buildup made my shock my mouse, which is attached to the keyboard, which now is malfunctioning; keys like the shift and alt (important, no?) are not working now. I'm gonna shut it down and later this eve see if it works again. Sad, but Kyo IS almost done, so not too sad. He may not get up till tomorrow, depending on how things go keyboard-wise. I'll hope for the best!
Ooooooh, this movie looks so good. I caught the trailer today at Apple, finally, and was just blown away. It looks like a graphic novel brought to life, I don't know how else to ddescribe it: stylized, gorgeous, cinematography laid out like a comic artist would on a page. It's called "300," and is based of the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller (Dark Knight, Sin City.) I'm sure I can't find the novel online to read (pesky American copyright laws), heh, so there's ANOTHER thing I need to save my money up for. Sheesh.
My Hiro: X-mas Gifts for my Fave Superhero and More. Yatta!
Is there any twenty-something out there NOT watching Heroes Monday nights? If so, shame on you, go watch it ASAP. Because Hiro is my new TV boyfriend (with Henry from Ugly Betty also duking it out, but he would totally lose to Hiro's powers, and this is SO a topic for another day), thus I am a wee bit obsessed with things featuring him at the moment. So here is stuff dealing with Hiro (and Masi Oka) for all to enjoy.
:: EW's Hiro Gift Guide ::
EW loves Hiro, hence I love EW. Here in this weeks issue is their picks for what to get Hiro, and Masi's own speculations about his gift choices from and for Hiro (Heroes Season 1 DVD from the future, portable electronic dictionary) and the lamest gift he ever got. (Getting snowed in alone on Christmas/Birthday.)
(And his b-day's Dec. 27, fangirls, a capricorn and a tiger, but like you didn't already know that.)
:: Time & Wired Magazine ::
I watched Hiro on late night the other day, and he was just brilliant! And the host mentioned this issue of TIME with Masi Oka on the cover. There is also a blur about him in Wired, too.
Great article I read about him last month in USA Today.
:: Masi Interviews ::
GreatInterviews. I think he needs to teach me some freelancing skills, as mine totally suck and apparently his rock. But their boyfriend's fave char and not theirs? Please. Mohinder is smokin', as is Issac, but Masi is the best. I think if he went to cons, he'd see I'm not the only young adult fangirl out there, not by a long shot. Oh, and I'd totally go just to see him and chat with him, if poss.
:: Masi Behind the Scenes ::
Clips of him in Heroes intermixed with a video interview. Watch it here or below.
:: Hiro's Blog ::
See, it's brilliant stuff like this that explains why Heroes is doing so good and supposedly teen-centric CW is floundering. A blog for our fave superhero? My heart soars.
:: The Online Comic ::
Okay, now I'm just pointlessly mentioning stuff every Heroes fan knows about. but it's really good, seriously. Go download it and check it out.
:: Wikipedia ::
Has other good info about Masi. Also links from there to IMDB, where I first learned he is a digital effects animator!
(See, this proves why we should totally hang out in real life: having done computer animation and planning that as my career in HS/early college, until I changed my mind, he could discuss it with me and I wouldn't get overwhemed when he spouts off into animation-speak. (Well, maybe the math part I would, but on the rest of it I'd be solid.) We could actually have an intelligent conversation about it. And I would make him sushi, and then once we were fast friends he could go with me to Japan and help me get around in a country I am afraid I will get lost in yet am dying to visit. Doing Tokyo with Masi? Would be a blast, because we could go browse at the manga shops together and stuff. (He loves manga, but doesn't get to read a whole lot of it at the moment. Ooh, and he could translate it for me too. Ooh, and how lame and preteenish fangirly do I really sound?) Aaaaaaand fangirl daydream over, hee.)
Woot, it's been a month but I finally am back on track!
Yuki has been on my list from the very beginning as the perfect candidate for being Angsty Bishified. And yes, Kyo fangirls, I hear you screaming "But what about Kyoooooooo! Whya haven't you done hiiiiiiim? It's soooooo not fair!" Answer: I was hoping to surprise you guys by doing TWO in one week, to make up for my recent slackerness, but alas it was not to be. I only had time for one this week, and Yuki's sketch came out with less probs, ergo he got done first. Kyo will be up next week.
I also don't mind doing him first, for the simple reason that he is one of my fave characters in the Furubaverse. Which I get is bizarre, as it seems in my conversations with people that between the two characters they tend to gravitate to loving Kyo more than Yuki. Does anyone disagree with me that this is the case?
(Spoilerage of the HP and Furuba sort)
And while I usually can guess which characters will eventually be shipped canonically (sorry, Harry/Hermione shippers, it was obvious from the Chamber of Secrets book which way JKR was leaning; if you make a char look like the protagonist's dead mum he's gonna prob end up with that char, but keep hoping anyways), but from the first I shipped Yuki and Tohru together, and even though I figured out which way the shipping would end up, I still am curently rooting for Yuki in vain. I hear he finds someone special though (and NO Hatsuharu/Yuki shippers, you are foiled once more), so hopefully I can get on board with that when I get to that point in the story. I'm only in the forties chapter-wise, so I have a ways to go.
(End Spoilerage)
I think my loving Yuki more stems from maternal instinct; every time I see Yuki I want to scoop him up in my arms and tell him everything will be okay. I don't know, but he comes across to me as a much more fragile person than Kyo does. Kyo is more persecuted, sure, but he is much stronger internally and already I think he has made the bigger strides in growing and maturing. Both boys are horribly damaged, but at this point in the story I feel like while Kyo is making great strides, Yuki is still stunted in ways that Kyo will never be.
I think it is easy to mistake shyness for stuck-upness; I know this has beeen the case for me on many occasions, and I think it is a trait in Yuki that is misinterpreted by many people. Still waters run deep; under that facade of calm perfection seethes the heart of an angsty emo poster-child. Thus why he and Kyo were some of the first AB's I thumbnailed.
(Though when you come down to it, aren't most of the characters in Furuba angsty? Because of this I'm trying to be picky with which Furuba characters I do, so I don't end up doing them all, but I think the only other ones I would do would be Hiro and Akito; the rest aren't quite so angsty compared to these four characters.)
Still can't believe that I now, since Nov. 30th, live in a world where Furuba is completed! And cannot wait for her next work.
Bringin' Sexy Book: Obata's Masterpiece and my new #1 Object du Lust
In spite of my impulsivity, I try to be a rational creature. I find that the best way to curb my spending habits for my usual objects of lust (art books, home furnishings, manga, sushi) is to abstain totally (from the store, site, book section) or I will talk myself into buying things I desperately want but cannot afford. I know everyone does this, but when you have ADD like I do it is essential to resist the impulses as best you can.
Therefore, when I heard about Takeshi Obata releasing an art book earlier this year, I was extremely excited, but couldn't afford a new art book, so somehow I completely forgot about it and put it out of my mind until today, when I was hunting for reference pics for a DN fanart. I was like, "Hey, I think that art book of his should be out by now," so I googled it up.
HOLY ALL THAT IS HOLY. There are low end and high end art books, and Obata's is in the realm of the highest of the high. Gorgeous illustrations, well designed, and hugely thick. (Just how I lurv my coffee table books.) Just the book itself and the illustrations are gorgeous, but no, he also put out a limited edition Death Box, which comes with extra stuff. The figures and extra stuff, meh, those are nice but I'm not big into it, but the box is even more super since the book in it is even more fancy and special. (Yes, when I get excited my grammar suffers. Deal with it.)
Yeah, so now I am doubting my devotion to Obata since I didn't preorder this on the spot, and probably as a result will never be able to buy it. But it is a LOT of money, over $200, so I don't feel like such a tool for waiting so long but still feel crappy. And the art book itself is over $90, so I'm guessing the price tag will keep it from being nestled under my Christmas tree this year. (Leeshee loves me, but not THAT much.) So I will gaze at online images in rapt adoration until I make it mine one day.
Great scans of the book's illustrations can be found here and here, and the cover and spine here.
Speaking of Obata, does everyone know that he got arrested for possesion of a knife? Crazy. And again, I feel so out of the loop. I would curl up under my desk, except I have an annual report due which needs 4 extra pages designed and added to it STAT. So the licking of the wounds will have to wait till later.
