11AM...

My favorite person singer in the world released this pre-release special MV ahead of his album.

It's... um...

It's kind of everything.

Seriously, if I could have asked him personally to make a thing...

This is pretty much what it would look like and sound like and feel like.

Yeah.

I'll... have to work through some feelings on this one.



*ahem*
The real single for when the album is released will be a dance track--based on the tiny bit of audio/picture leaks. Upbeat, summery, colorful, pop. I love contrast. This is definitely a contrast.
So happy. So weepy and happy.
*sigh*

Potential...

I have been reading.
I have also been reminded of why I don't read books as much as I used to.
It's dangerous.
I can't ever put them down. Hours and days disappear. I dive in and forget to manage basic bodily functions. I'm nearly at 6 books in the last two weeks.

Finally getting around to reading the remaining Enderverse books. I had been waiting until they were all out to plow through in one go. But the movie will be out at the end of the year, so I'm forging ahead even with two more books forthcoming. Halfway through Earth Afire. Earth Unaware and this one precede Ender's Game. **SPOILER ALERT** You get an intimate view of first contact with the Buggers and how that all goes down. Having read the rest of the series with a grasp of what the next 3000 years are like, I know exactly what is going to happen. I could guess what 'The Scouring of China' referred to in EG. I knew the death toll and immense tragedy. But that isn't making it any less thrilling or terrifying... more-so probably. That first-hand view is an intense roller coaster of emotion. I'm especially interested in the content, because Aaron Johnston was the co-writer and he worked on the screenplay for the movie, so the shots of the invasion will certainly be canon. What's shown in the trailer is accurate to the text thus far. That's cool. Gosh, and Mazer's story is hair-raising at times. Wow.

Ancelotti is confirmed for Real Madrid. He said Zidane will be assistant coach on the bench ZIZOUUUUUUUUUUU! I will shit rainbows whenever Özil/Zidane interaction happens. The young and excellent Isco was announced today, too. I'm feeling very hopeful about the next season.

I've developed quite a relationship with the Scrub Jays that visit our backyard. There are four. Each with distinct personalities/behaviors. Never a dull moment. I should post about them. Maybe some video! We'll see.

First teaser for Junsu's album and MV. Haunting and delicious.
He said there would be bright summery fun and also darkness.
I'll take it. All of it.



But nothing is as important as what happened in the wee morning hours on Tuesday.
My nephew was born. He's the first of the next generation on both sides of my family.
The feeling is incredibly foreign. It's strange to think of my brother as a father.
So strange.
It's only because we're so different.
He, the gregarious, independent, married, adult.
Me... the polar opposite.
I can't begin to fathom taking on that kind of responsibility.
Utterly beyond me in every way. Makes me anxious just thinking about it.

But the little one, not so little actually despite being two weeks early, is perfectly healthy. With a full head of hair. No red though. Heh.
Welcome to the world, W!

Just a patina...

A Paisley Patina.
Liked that tangle so I messed with it in Photoshop. Finally posting something that looks vaguely more finished for once. ^^
Paisley/boteh has a fascinating history. One of those things that you touch on in art history and then see it everywhere you look. Love those old elements of deeply shared culture and design going waaaay back.

Flash, Crash, Rumble and Troll...

Ouch.
Hiccuping while yawning is not fun.

Haven't had hiccups in... I can't remember how long and they're frequent and violent all of a sudden. Almost as frequent and violent as the thunderstorm a couple nights ago.

Almost thought it was an earthquake during the first rumble. Then it was like an explosion  over our roof every few minutes. And it just went on and on and on and on. Usually such storms only last an hour at most around here. This thing was constant for like eight hours. Space-Time Continuum tearing itself a new one outside my window, shaking the whole house. Then the rain in the gutter hit this absurd rhythm like five spastic tap dancers in a contest to see who could keep me awake the longest...

THWAKTHWAKTHWAKTHWAKITYTHWICKTHACK

...which inspired a delightful dream in which a giant boar went on a rampage around the neighborhood, hooves THWIKITYTHAKING every which way, and also somehow able to hold and fire a revolver with the enthusiasm of Yosemite Sam. It was bloody and disturbing.

Moving on.

Sony crapped all over Microsoft at E3. I never took sides in the console war. I have an Xbox360 (won in an art contest) and a Wii, but I'll always prefer PC for games. Never had anything PlayStation. Xbox met gamer desires ahead of the curve for a long time, but now with the next generation of consoles, Xbox One and PS4, the tables have completely turned. It's like Xbox betrayed all the things gamers care about and PlayStation was all, "Really, bro? That's ain't cool."


Four for you PS4! You go PS4!

Was introduced to the awesome that is Betty Who. Her EP is available for free download and I've been listening to it on loop all week. Feels like the best elements of 80s pop. Exceptionally refreshing. It's a genre of music I wasn't really aware that I loved until I was smitten with almost every Infinite track (Kpop boyband) and tried to figure out why.

Answer = 80s

Real Madrid's season ended with naught to show for it. Big changes for next season. Mourinho is going back to Chelsea. Ancelotti seems to be the likeliest new manager, which could potentially be a good fit. Still waiting for big name transfers to happen. Essien-the-gorgeous and Higuain-the-Pipita are out. Bale-who-loves-Cristiano, maybe? Suarez-who-bites-people, maybe? Pretty sure the Germans are staying. Mesut definitely.

Mesut's wax figure was revealed recently. I didn't have high hopes. So many of them are uncanny valley creepy or miss the likeness in important ways... and Mesut has weird features anyway. But it turned out fucking brilliant. I gasped loudly when I saw the first pictures.
 My thoughts exactly, Mes. It's scary.
Scary accurate.

Watched a bunch of the World Cup Qualifiers in the Americas today. Mexico vs. Costa Rica was heated. USA vs. Panama surprised the hell outta me. USA had flow like a top-level European team. Must be Klinsmann's influence. Nice to see. We won 2-0. Dunno if they can hold that together against better teams though.

I've been doing lots of these little doodling scraps to test my fingers. Haven't had a blow-up this calendar year. I think I'll try to get back to some painting soon. Taping is still working for now. My mom picked up one of those decorative wooden letters at a craft store and asked me to, "Just do something with it," for my sister-in-law's baby shower. Sanded. Primed. Painted. It was ocean-themed, so I Zentangled it appropriately and came up with this:

The 'back' looks better. I like the starfish.

'Twas meticulous and fun.

So yeah, more painting is in order. I'm hoping to do a huge FSM on a canvas for fun. It's simple, but I sketched it out and it made me giggle, so I think it should be a thing.

About to watch the Game of Thrones finale. Glad they got the RW out of the way last week.

Mad Men was likewhoooooaaaaaaaaaa this week and still two more episodes left! Whew.

Finally got around to seeing a couple movies. Wreck-It Ralph was absolutely fabulous. Best video game inspired movie ever ever EVER. So good and adorable and the nostalgia and the feelz!

I also really thoroughly enjoyed The Hobbit. Looked gorgeous. Great casting. The CGI and scale-doubling was way more effective than it was in LotR. Major upgrade. Riddles in the Dark was absolute perfection in every way. Gollum is just... yeesh... so amazing. When he rests his chin during the game... I may have squeaked out loud. Andy Serkis, man. The silliness and camp hit all the right notes, imo. Even the end, which was so over-the-top, worked. A+

Les Miserables, on the other had, was a huge let down. Never read the book. Never saw any production of it previously. I was vaguely familiar with a couple of the songs. Somehow, I had gotten it in my head that Les Mis was one of the best musicals ever. Like top 5. Best songs. Best story. So, it's probably my fault for assuming it would be good. Turns out, the story is so basic an Elementary School kid could write it and requires immense suspension of disbelief in the choices of characters. Musically, the themes are lovely, but few and similarly simple. I was shocked. As for the movie, it was beautiful looking and I LOVE the idea of the live singing throughout. The problem was I could hardly stand the voices of the main cast. Jackman was so nasal and forced sounding. Seyfried was obnoxious with that high warble thing she was doing. Crowe was... hard to listen to at all. Redmayne seemed like he was passing a kidney stone the whole time. They're such big roles with so much singing to do. I feel like these casting choices killed it by default. A lot of the secondary characters were actually trained singers and brilliant. The kids, too. Brilliant. And the comedy characters with Helena and Sacha were great. Why couldn't they do that with the WHOLE cast?!?!!

This is turning into a rant. Oh, dear. Here's the deal. You make a movie and acting is the medium through which a story is conveyed. The best acting is effortless. You don't see the acting. You just believe that the actor is that character. Likewise, you make a musical and singing is the medium through which a story is conveyed. And the best musical actors are the ones who are effortless singers. You just accept that singing is their natural method of communication. Nothing is forced.

So, if you're going to make a cinematic movie of Les Mis, then do it with actors and acting alone. If you want to make a cinematic movie of the musical Les Mis, then do it with musical actors and singing alone. They were perfectly capable of doing this. They even did it halfway with the cast, but the critical characters being insufferable to listen to just ruined it for me. That being said, Anne Hathaway was a good decision. I'm not much a fan, but she absolutely melted my face off. She sang like a natural and sounded great. So, kudos for that.

Meh. Anywhoozle, I finished watching it and immediately watched South Korea's little special performance during their version of the Tony Awards. Everything sounds better in Korean. Junsu in all his bleached Der Tod hair glory as Marius. Lol.

I feel better now.

I still think the story is garbage.

Oh, that reminds me. Not the garbage part. The Junsu part. Apparently Junsu is going to have a new solo album out in July. Holy shit on a biscuit! I should know better than to be surprised. Whenever he seems like he's not working... he is. THRILLED. I. AM. Plus, he'll be in the short second run of Elisabeth later in the year. Gadzooks this post is looooong. And getting longer. Am I done? I think I'm done.

WAIT.

First Desolation of Smaug trailer out today. Come at me, Thranduil!!!  

LEGGGGGYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! Oh lawd, if Peter gets some Gloin/Legolas interaction in there, I'll piss myself. It's hard to see Evangeline as anyone but Kate. Hopefully, that won't get in the way of whatever her new character is.

DEM BARRELS THOUGH.

XD

Okay, I'm done.

And the hiccups are gone. ^^