Eragon

Well, I bought and watched Eragon today but I found that the whole way through I was basically picking it apart and finding all the things that didn't fit in with the book or my own expectations.
I suppose the main thing to me was that it wasn't substantial or in depth in my opinion and this lost some of my feeling of the reality of the world of Eragon.

What I thought about the characters:

• Murtagh - wasn't right, there's nothing wrong with the actor but the character was written differently - in the film he knew where the Varden were and was happy to go to them, he seemed a lot less experienced than the Murtagh written in the books, and the way he joined them was different and not that great - he followed them rather than joining when rescuing Arya.
  
• Arya - firstly I very much like the actress and though I'd never heard of her before I think she's great in the part - though one thing I must say is, how hard is it to make her hair dark? Seriously, such a little difference still annoyed me. I suppose it could have been to detract from the Arwen look going on there. The meeting of her and Eragon was completely changed: he didn't have dreams of her in the darkened room due to her calling out to anyone to find and help her - he had visions inflicted by Durza to make him come to her so that Durza could kill him. Secondly, she was conscious basically the whole time - she even helped to look after Brom when he was injured - she's supposed to be unconscious! That's rather a bit part to screw round with. Thirdly it is revealed immediately that she is the princess of Ellésmera though in the trilogy it isn't revealed until the second book (or at least the end of the first - I don't really remember) - plus I don't think the film really says anything about the fact that she's an elf, unless the viewers already know what Ellésmera is then it's not really proclaimed clearly. And also at the beginning she was vaguely taunting Durza about failing whereas I think Arya isn't really the sort - she seemed more the sort to let him figure it out and taunt himself I suppose (this isn't really a major point just a sort of side bit). And lastly - her relationship with Eragon seems too openly romantic on her part when really Arya doesn't care for Eragon in that way especially considering the fact that she's actually a lot older than him. Though at least she looks a little uncomfortable when he says 'then I'll be waiting for tomorrow' (- when they may be together again). She also doesn't seem wise enough.
  
• Eragon - pretty good, fairly young and naïve as the character is supposed to be. I didn't really have a fixed image of him looking a specific way despite the fact that he is described as brown hair and brown eyed in the book (while the actor Edward Speleers is blonde and blue eyed), for me Edward Speleers fitted well enough as I'm sure several others could. An actor matching the description would probably have been better but I didn't really mind much. Refer to Arya section for views on their relationship - though on his side it is intended as more romantic. Quite a few people said 'Ehr-uh-gone' rather than 'Ehr-uh-gahn' as it's supposed to be pronounced - but that may also have something to do with accent and perception.
  
• Brom - way too rough I think, the actor and general look were fine, even fairly well suited, but the character talks without the care of nearby guards hearing when really Brom in the beginning is supposed to seem more... harmless I suppose. Also I liked the fact that he talked to Saphira directly in the book so I was a bit disappointed they didn't have that in - he's not quite kind enough. He should be unexpectedly tough rather than obviously tough. The fact that he was a dragon rider came out too quickly and not as interestingly as in the book.
  
• Saphira - beautifully done, love the motion and overall look of the character. Rachel Weisz's voice as Saphira was really good. Her voice possibly could have been a little more gruff I think but there isn't really a specification on that so I didn't really mind - thought it was really good. I didn't like how the majority of the characters didn't try to act towards Saphira as if she was her own individual - this included Brom. Some characters wouldn't anyway and that's fine but some who didn't should have really. Didn't like how her egg was found though, I think there should have been more of the fact that Eragon found it and thought it was dropped or something rather than the very obvious appearance of it by magic. Really didn't like the fact that she grew up superspeed in a few minutes - yes she grows quickly, but naturally and quickly, not like that. Loved the look when she was little - gorgeous.
  
• Angela - just not right I thought. I don't think she should have been so decorated (jewellery etc.), she looked a bit like some sort of weird Egyptian cult person. I think she should have been older/more wisened or weathered. They ignored the werecat, Solembum. Her eyes misted over (did what Storm's eyes do when she changes the weather in X-men) when she predicted Eragon's future, in the book she seemed sort of more mysterious in the fact that you didn't know if she was really telling the truth or really predicting anything at all etc. and so I don't think her eyes should have done that. I have nothing against Joss Stone, I think possibly she could have pulled it off if given a different costume and persona for Angela but it might have been better just to have someone else instead.
  
• Galbatorix - John Malkovich fits well enough, the accent should be a bit different I think but other than that the character seems ok. They missed out the whole thing about his dragon dying and him using dark magic to have another one.
  
• Durza - I like. Well done character - Robert Carlyle fits fairly well I think. Haven't really got any problems with this character.
  
• Uncle Garrow - good, not in too much of the story anyhow.
  
• Roran - good, though leaves town for a different reason than in the book. The whole Katrina thing doesn't happen (except for a bit in the deleted/extended scenes - I'm glad they kept it out though as I don't think it seems right anyway).
  
• Hrothgar - pretty good though I didn't actually know who/which one he was until looking on the internet.
  
• Ajihad - pretty good, I didn't first picture him as being black (even though it does say he has dark skin in the book - I didn't remember at the time, a bit like the brown hair/eyes for Eragon) but I thought it was still a very good choice of actor.

Other:

• Costumes were excellent - except Angela's (in my opinion). Very well thought out, fit very well, overall just brilliant.
  
• Settings were also excellent - well chosen, looked good, fit the book's descriptions well.


• Zar'roc looked wrong - firstly it should have had a red - not blue - stone, secondly it should not have had a red blade, it didn't look as good as it could have (though as they did decide to make it have a red blade it was pulled off fairly well). It came out too early that it was previously Morzan's.
  
• Urgals weren't really like described, thought I didn't think they were too terrible.
  
• They didn't have Orik in the film and Eragon and Murtagh weren't saved they got through the water to the Varden without help.

Watching a couple of the extras I found that Christopher Paolini had always intended it to be a film, so I wonder a little whether he was really happy with this adaption of it. His books are far more in-depth than this film (though I do take into account the fact that films can't be quite as in-depth as books, they'd last too long and get boring).
After watching a few more I got a bit annoyed that the director's comments seemed to ignore the descriptions of the books - e.g. he says how the hair colour for Arya was really perfect and also how he was looking for a blonde, blue eyed Eragon. Seriously - if you're going to do an adaption and you don't want to piss off the fans then at least acknowledge your deviations!

Many people say the film is crap but I'm not sure. I think it would be pretty hard to follow if you hadn't read the books but obviously I wouldn't know as I have read them.

Overall, pretty good as it's own film but not so good in comparison to the book.
What do you think?

Pirates of the Caribbean! - spoiler warning

Was totally awesome last night. Rather amusing and just great in general. The ending was a bit sad-happy since Elizabeth and Will only get to spend one day together every 10 years (since he took the place of Davy Jones) but I suppose it was better than him dying. Yun-Fat Chow was quite good in it - played Captain Sao Feng. Loved the fact that Elizabeth became the captain of her own ship and in the end the pirate king (extra vote by Jack - when you see it it's fairly predictable that it will happen). Loved the outfit she got to wear/ the whole overall oriental/asian look after being taken by Sao Feng (who made her captain just before he died - hence the captain-ness). Sad that Captain Norrington died, I rather liked him. Was very amused by the fact that everyone made alliances with everyone and broke these alliances with everyone. The song at the beginning was a bit weird but a good song (random pirates uniting in song for some reason - they were all about to be/were being hung - started by a little boy pirate. Loved the way Elizabeth and Will were married (by Barbossa - in the midst of fighting). Overall it did make up for my disappointment in the last one (though I did like a lot of the last one - especially the Captain Jack moments). So yeah, just excellent. Watch it. <3

Oh yes. And at the end after the credits it showed '10 years later', Elizabeth and her son standing on the island (I'm not quite sure why she decided to live on a lonely island when she has to wait 10 years every time - plus the pregnancy must have been hell with no help - I suppose she could have sailed off to live a normal life the rest of the time) and watching him sail away. The little boy was really sweet (well, he would be able 9 - though Emma said 10 I think she forgot about the whole 9 months thing - she also commented 'he must be really fertile' lol, only one day but managed to get her pregnant. Well, it is possible. But either way - "that's the movies, baby")

Hogfather

I just watched the first proper discworld film - Hogfather. It's fantastic! I think that the casting was basically perfect. When I heard and saw Teatime I have to say that it did remind me of Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate factory and when I watched the extras I found that he did use that as quite substantial inspiration I was like 'I thought so!'. Also, I thought that Michelle Dockery was perfect for the part of Susan. Her voice in some parts reminds me of Liv Tyler, her acting is fantastic and really personifies Susan; also all the way through I kept thinking that she reminds me of someone in real life but I didn't pinpoint it til I watched the extras - she reminds me of my most recent art teacher, more in 'real life' than as Susan though. Hex is great, loving the font. David Jason made an excellent and very comedic Albert. I absolutely loved the voice of Death, again, perfect - also the movement was great so congrats to the tall, dutch actor as well (his name has slipped my mind for the minute). The wizards were fairly entertaining, very good. The only things I didn't like was the auditors and Nobby Nobbs - I thought the look of the auditors was great but I didn't like the voices - they had too high a pitch I think, they were double toned but I think the voices should have been lower and slightly more ghostly; Nobby Nobbs was too big, not quite scrawny enough and could be seen to obviously, I always imagined him as slightly more unidentifiable I suppose, though the actor did a good job in the part I must say. But all in all I think that it was amazing, congratulations to everyone who was involved - director, architecture/art people, other behind the scenes people, actors etc. Loved the special effects.
Watch it.

Oh dear, little Hazel.

Watched some old videos I found today. One which has this Capital E thing - special effects. I was 6 at the time. Unfortunately I was wearing blue on that day so I'm invisible in some of them... They're quite cool though. But I remember how upset I was because people were laughing at me and I didn't know why (I didn't realise you could see the result on a screen). But yeah, they're extremely entertaining, if a little repetitive.
Also watched an old video with things like my dedication, me and Carol growing up - doing normal things, lots of piano things- Carol actually playing, me just banging it and going 'Clap!', lol. I realised that yes, I really have had bright red cheeks for most of my life, it actually seems to have faded a bit over time, lol, but it's ok 'cause I looked so sweet! Don't know what happened :P. It's quite cool seeing the videos. Also I've now discovered a fair amount of things I can put in a video for Carol's 21st :P. Not sure if I will really do it but we'll see, lol.

So yes, things going pretty well. Learnt quite a bit of Psych. Still got quite a bit to go. Got general studies and Maths C2 tomorrow. Not looking forward to it.

Going now. X

Quick general note

Yeah, life is ok atm. Done 3 exams - CPT3 (Comp), General Studies 1, History Unit 3. Got lots to go. Mon = C2 (Maths), and General Studies 2; Tues = CPT2 and Psychology x 2.
Then haven't got anymore til the 6th of June. So I'll have a week break which will be very welcome. Aim for today was to frantically do some Psych revision - Trying to learn the whole first module before Tues as I don't really remember it...
I learnt about half of the first half of the module. So I'll certainly be cramming tomorrow and as much of Mon as pos.

Looked at a couple of really cool books recently. Read 'The Time-Traveller's Wife' which is an excellent book. Got a couple of quotes from it which will be put up eventually. Also looked at one on visualising ideas which was cool - stuff on drawing, storyboarding and having ideas and stuff. Also a book on Tim Hildebrandt - love his artwork, truly excellent - he's also done some LOTR work so that was rather cool to see.

Did choc fountain the other day, that was good. Was mum's b-day on Thurs so went out for that which was cool.
Hopefully going to the cinema on Thurs to see POTC3 but since it's the first day we may not get tickets. Not really that bothered - I was just invited last week so was like 'yeah, cool, whatever :)'. Social activity is always good. Means I don't just sleep all the time :P.

Anyway. Sleep. Good. Bye.

Simon Walters Article - unbelievable!

Seriously. He wrote this article about how JK Rowling says she doesn't believe in this body-consiousness of the world but then writes slim and good, fat and bad characters. Thankfully someone from Mugglenet - Andy - wrote a fantastic article which clearly shows what Simon Walters appears to have missed. So there you go, if you're a fan, or feel like reading stuff about body-conciousness and positive role models, then go ahead and read it - also there's links to Simon Walter's article (scanned in 2 sections + a side section) and to an author comment thing that he wrote later in response to comments. It's excellent, extremely well justified and I agree with his ending paragraph:

"Simon Walters, you should be ashamed of yourself for crassly trying to drum up cheap publicity using such an important issue as your vehicle."

He may be a very nice man but he really shouldn't try to write about something he doesn't know enough about.

I can trust you - Rebecca St. James

Yes, I know that you have paved a path for me

Yes, I know that you see what I do and don’t need

But when it comes to the deepest things

I have a hard time relinquishing control

Letting go

God, it hurts to give you what I must lay down

But when I let go, freedom’s found

God, it hurts to give you what I’ve held so dear

Because of your love it’s clear

I can trust You with this

I can trust You with me

I can trust You

Lord, I know that you are worthy of my trust

For You have shown me time and time again

You’re faithful and yet

I’m so scared of letting go of this

Afraid of what you might do with it

How could I forget who you are like this

Me forsaking

Heart is breaking

I let go of what I’ve held so tight

Freedom’s mine now

For the taking

I move in faith, not by sight

Let Your will be done

SOUL SISTA...

... was AMAZING. I always love it, it's my sort of thing. If you didn't know it's a christian girls conference that Soul Survivor Church host. I've been a few times, this one was structured a bit differently this time. There was a main session first (as usual) where we sang worship songs, got prayer if we wanted it, had someone talking to us about human traffiking and what we can do about it. We had some thought and prayer about that and were given postcards that we could sign in support of 'stop the traffik'.
After a short lunch break we went on to small workshops that we signed up for at the beginning. This was the different part as usually there are just a variety of workshops which you can go to which have very large amounts of people and there are only about 4-5 but there were about 10-12 of these small workshops, these included ones about singing, dance, learning to hear God's voice, evangelism, preaching, creative writing etc. I was originally thinking about the 'learning to hear God's voice' one but it was full by the time I got to the list so in the end I chose (after much deliberation) to go with the 'Passion of Preaching'.
My group had only about 12 people in it and was led by Ali Martin (previously MacInnes). It was really awesome and she talked about lots of things involved in preaching including preparation and delivery. Some of the preparation things were tips like go on the internet and research other people's sermons on the same subject, use other books like 'Unlocking the bible', 'New Bible Commentary' and concordances. Also to just write down thoughts without thinking about structure all the time and stuff. Will properly write up my notes and shove them on here eventually (they can also be useful for general presentationy things). So yeah, did that also went to the seminar between the two sections of workshop but didn't go to the evening meeting as I was leaving early to go Becky's birthday thing.
Talked to Zozo for about half an hour, I've never really talked to her before so it was really cool and she is an amazing woman, really encouraging and lovely, so after we talked and she prayed for me we went off to the other warehouse to have a quick look at CDs and stuff before I ran off back home (well, got in a car and was driven for 35 minutes - throughout which I jabbered about preaching to my parents who of course were ecstatic, lol).

Then went off to Becky's birthday thing at T.G.I. Fridays which was awesome, met a few new people, arrived 15 mins late... whoops. But still all good. Got lots of (bad) photos. People there were: Becky Evs (whose birthday it was), other Becky (C), Adam (boyfriend of Becky C), Chelsea, Natalie (? - I think that was her name), Vicki, Anna, Hannah C, 2 other Hannahs I don't really know, Emma and Jess (I don't know these last two and didn't really talk to them as they were at the other end of the table). So 13 of us all together. Was good, various funny/bad pics of Becky passed round when she couldn't see so that was fun, also some left stuck on windows (as post-its) and ceiling etc. So rather amusing really. Very nice food. Fantastic company. Doing the macarena outside on the footpath afterwards. Perfect.

Text/Web-speak

Looked at this article today and found it quite interesting. So I decided to stick a whole bunch of abbreviations on here. (Yes, I'm bored, how did you tell!). And bored as I am I'm going to go through and note ones which I use, have alternatives for, have never seen or dislike.

Never seen
Vaguely seen somewhere... possibly...
I use these...
I use something else for this
This really gets on my nerves (though some of my friends probably use it)


10Q – Thank you
1337 – Elite (normally called leet)
1CE – Once
-It's only one letter more to write 'once'!
2 – To, two, too
2MORO – Tomorrow
-I sometimes use this but I generally use 2mz (which makes even less sense)
264U – Too sexy for you
3 – Free, three
-Well duh, that's what it means in the first place
4 – For, fore, four
4FRNFR – For ever and ever
8 – Ate, eight
@ - at
-I don't personally use this but I've seen it and it doesn't particularly get on my nerves...
@TEOTD - At The End Of The Day
A3 - Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace
AAR – At any rate
ADIH – Another day in hell
ADR – Address
-I use 'addy' but it's generally not in the context of a real street address - normally an msn or something.
AFAIK - As far as I know
AFK - away from the keyboard
ASAP - As Soon As Possible
ASL - Age, Sex, Location?
-Just to confuse I thought I'd use yellow - this one I used only on habbo but since I haven't been on there for ages I don't use it anymore. Generally I know who I'm talking to.
ATM - At The Moment
AWOL - Absent Without Leave
AYK - As You Know
B - be
-Only annoys me a little, again it's the whole 'it's only one more letter!' thing.
B4 - Before
-I generally actually spell 'before'...
B4N - Bye For Now
B4U - Before You
B4YKI - Before You Know It
BB4N - Bye-Bye for Now
BBS – Be back soon
BG – Big grin
BTW - By The Way
CU - See You
-Used to say this, now generally actually spell it out.
CUL8R - See You Later
CWOT - Complete Waste Of Time
CYA - See Ya
DILLIGAD - Do I look like I give a damn?
DIY - Do it yourself
DL - Download
DNC - Does Not Compute
EG - Evil grin
-Nope, I spell it out like a normal person
EOM - End of message
EZ - easy
-Haven't really seen this one but it does make sense. Though saying that, I wouldn't use it.
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
FRM - from
FWD - Forward
G - Grin
G2G - Got to Go
GF - Girlfriend
GR8 - Great!
-Yep, Dan uses this one all the time...
GSOH - Good Sense Of Humour
-Well, ok, technically I don't use it but I do know it and might use it if the context came up.
GTG - got to go
-(see g2g)
H8 - hate
-Ironic really
IC - I See
-Well, I sort of started this off in my group of friends as I 'created' it (though as evidence here others clearly did too - it is quite an obvious one to use), I also always use oic.
IM - Instant messaging
IMHO - In My Honest/Humble Opinion
IMNSHO - in my not so humble opinion
IMO - In My Opinion
IOW - In Other Words
IRL - In Real Life
IYKWIM - If you know what i mean
L8 - late
L8R - Later
LMAO - Laugh My Ass Off
-Rarely but yes.
LOL - Laugh Out Loud
-ALL the time.
LV - love
-Strangely enough
M8 - Mate
-Really, it seriously is all the '8' ones isn't it...
MMFU - my mate fancies you
-Lol.
MSG - Message
MYOB – Mind your own business
N00B - Beginner, inexperienced (particularly in computer games)
-Habbo
NMP - Not my problem
NSFW - Not Safe/suitable For Work
OIC - Oh I See
-(See 'IC')
OMG - Oh My God
-Rarely seeing as I don't really like the phrase
OOO - Out of office
OTTOMH - Off the Top of my Head
PM - Personal Message
PRW - Parents Are Watching
RBTL - Read between the lines
RL - Real life
-Yes, you've guessed it. Habbo.
ROFL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing
ROFLMAO - Rolling on the floor laughing my a** off
ROFLOL - Roll On Floor Laughing Out Loud
ROTFL - Rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFLMAO - Roll On The Floor Laughing My a** Off
ROTFLOL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing Out Loud
-Rarely use all the 'ROFL/ROTFL' ones
RTM - Read the manual (sometimes RTFM)
RU - are you
-Ok, so I use it once in a while... it still gets on my nerves!
SBIA - Stands Back In Amazement
SOZ - sorry
SUM1 - someone
TB - Text Back
TBC - To be continued
THX - Thank You
THX or T - Thanks
TMA - Too many acronyms
TMB - Text Me Back
TTFN - Ta-Ta For Now!
TY - Thank you
TYVM - thank you very much
U - You
U2 - You Too
U4E - Yours For Ever
UR - your, you're
WB - Welcome Back
WE - whatever
WE -Weekend
WO - without
WTB - Want to buy
WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get
X - Kiss
YYSSW - yeah yeah, sure sure, whatever
ZZZ - Sleeping, bored, tired

Check it out:

http://1a2c.blogspot.com/2006/07/philosophy-of-squish.html
I'm lovin' it. (No McDs pun intended)

Everything you ever wanted - Hawk Nelson

I walk the line
Leave it all behind
I've been waiting forever
Let's go back in time
When I could read your mind
Still I've been waiting

It took the seasons going by
To know it's not my fault

I tried to be perfect, tried to be honest
Tried to be everything that you ever wanted
I tried to be stronger, tried to be smarter
Tried to be everything but you

Its been so long
Since you've been home
I used to wait up forever
I used to say a prayer
Wishing you were there
And I'm still waiting

You told me once
You'd show up
But I fell for that
Before I fell to pieces
Then I woke up
To no one,
Just a picture of Jesus
And a house left in pieces

It took the seasons going by
To know it's not my fault

I tried to be perfect, tried to be honest
Tried to be everything that you ever wanted
I tried to be stronger, tried to be smarter
Tried to be everything but you

I wanted you
I need you
I want to believe you
I wanted you
I need you
I want to believe you

I tried to be perfect, tried to be honest
Tried to be everything but you
I tried to be perfect, tried to be honest
Tried to be everything that you ever wanted
I tried to be stronger, tried to be smarter
Tried to be everything but you

I tried to be perfect, tried to be honest
Tried to be everything that you ever wanted
I tried to be stronger, tried to be smarter
Tried to be everything but you

Click here

A walk to remember...

Well, just read the book yesterday and I have to say that the book and film of 'A walk to remember' are very different. I must say that I rather prefer the film. Didn't like the book so much. Though both the film and book of 'The Notebook' are rather good.
Just realised that I didn't actually take the book from the library apart from in the most literal sense of the phrase. Since I reserved it I just went in and picked it up and went off with Dan without thinking about the fact that I had to go and do the self issue thingy. I'll go back tomorrow or something and issue/return it, along with the other books I have to return. Whoops.

Also - just saw 'The Holiday' lent to me by Dan and I must say that it is actually excellent. A few bits are a bit sad but I don't remember any major cringeworthy moments and it's quite realistic emotions-wise. Very good. If you haven't watched it, you should.