Empty Cage

Today the Sakaki Haruto Fanlisting dropped and I don’t think I have any plans to reapply for it. I quite liked Witch Hunter Robin, but its an outdated topic and its too much of a hassle to keep on manually updating it. Plus I really can’t be arsed to do a whole fanpage for it. I applied for the Sick Boy (Trainspotting) Fanlisting, but I might tell them I don’t have time if I get it. We shall see. I’m still watching Nayru’s Umbreon Fanlisting because I am a huge dork. (I think this is the only fanlist I’ve joined in recent years so there-you-go).

In other, more OMFGEPIX Amber, my beloved hostee got approved for the Moi dix Mois Fanlisting, which is amazing to the supreme. I shall be hosting it, and she shall be getting a domain which I shall be hosting. So keep your eyes open for that.

That’s about all I have to say, most of my recent design adventures have been for other people and oh boy, do my websites need a little work…

I am learning how to write a login script in PHP for a website I’m doing for someone else. Wish me luck!

Okay, well, forgive me, but if Quill & Quire’s whole best seller page is being eaten by paper thin terribly written vampires I think an intervention needs to be staged.

As I understand it, Twilight is one of those book conglomerates that you either love to the point where you leave your boyfriend (or… girlfriend, not be be gender exclusive) for the idea that ‘Edward’ might really be out there somewhere and not gay or married (as all the ‘good men’ allegedly are) or you hate Twilight more than Hitler and the Teletubbies combined. It’s a really toss up. I’m sure it doesn’t take a garbage man to figure out what camp your noble writer falls into.

Not that I don’t understand reading books that are wholly self indulgent and hold little-to-no literary value whatsoever. I read Battle Royale and I liked it god damn you, and no one can take that from me. And if you liked Twilight and its bastard half vampire offspring then I’m not going to shun you for having poor taste. But I think lines need to start being drawn in the sand. Like every gay basher, racist, and Twilight hater I’m going to preface this entry by saying I have friends who love Twilight, I don’t dislike them for this I just simply think their fanaticism is misplaced. Especially when Trainspotting exists, now Sick Boy, there’s a character to lust after.

The problem I have is like a visible and clearly isolated example of the problem I have with society in general. At least, its one of them. (Oh the humanity, a society rant, kill me right?) I hate that people tolerate having a big huge target painted on their backs. The fact that there is practically a mathematic formula for crap that people will throw their money at scares the shit out of me. And the fact that Stephanie-fucking-Meyer cashed in on it before I got the chance to, that also pisses me off. For a culture so proud of moving forward in toleration of differences people can still outwit us and return us to the base question ‘Is this what I want, or is that what other people want me to want?’

I’m a firm believer that we should not have to dumb down society to keep up with its slower members. But when a whole shelf of the bookstore is set aside for Vampire Lit it amazes me that people think ‘Oh let’s buy this!’ rather than ‘People with too much money are cashing in on the fact that one author had success.’

As always this returns me to my pet rant of the improper use of media. We have so many ways to transmit information, so many outlets, and granted, we can’t all write thoughtful and insightful pieces all the time (I, for example, never do) but I feel as though with so much thought power and access we are wasting creativity. Don’t get me started on the homogenization of the games industry I may cry or something.

Anyways, I should get back to being productive, I just needed to type a bit of that out.

Okay, okay okay. I guess it’s time for me to back pedal a little tiny bit. Because I was just hit in the face with some amazing cinema and want to share. That and this is my blog and I can do what I want.

Back a few weeks ago as part of my summer book marathon I picked up Trainspotting. I gave it a slightly less than glowing review because I found it a difficult read (and not in the ‘I’m an unintellectual nitwitway’, more the ‘I am being hit in the face with so much right now that my skull is reeling’) But I enjoyed it well enough, actually, I could even say I liked it. I wanted to give it another chance when I wasn’t reading seventy-five books in a summer. So, we decided to give the movie a chance anyways, because that was the bit that people were really raving to me about. The book, well it was okay, but the movie. And I really hate to say it but…

They were absolutely right.

Trainspotting was a great movie, it both blew your mind out your ears but really put your head in the space it needed to comprehend a druggie lifestyle. It doesn’t glorify the lifestyle but it gives you a fair enough ‘why’ it gives you one that you can accept. It was more linear and easier to wrap your head around. Maybe I’m a victim of society for saying it, but I definately need to read the book again more closely.

Additionally, I finished book six of the S75, that would be a Clockwork Orange. I think we should bring Nadsat into the current vocab, it would be completely horrorshow! Great book, I really need to watch the film again.

Well, let me tell you, oh unsympathetic internet, I have become greatly behind in my summer reads — and you know who I blame for this? The Sims 2, curse them and their little personal dramas which are, in sum total more interesting than my life currently is. I blame the accursed University Expansion pack and all that it stands for. Not really, it’s been a nice distraction for me. I also finished reading Fight Club, which was fucking epic in every way to Sunday. I wish to god I hadn’t seen the movie first because I knew the ending, and was just anticipating it. Cuuuuuurses. Fantastic book though, five stars. I’m going to write a review for it eventually maybe, but right now I’m not feeling it. I’m not feeling much in my review box right now, I don’t know why… I think it’s because I’m reading old books and reviews feel redundant. “Personally, I feel the Communist Manifesto lacked a certain– je ne sais quois… and it needed a little salt.” But I digress, this is the problem with reviewing is getting caught up on classics everyone knows the book is good (or at least cultured which is equally acceptable).

I’m not sure if I have the internet up to date, but I’ve read 5 of my summer books, and mostly done Clockwork Orange for number six. From there I have an ultra spiffy Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of Libba Bray’s new book Going Bovine which sounds strangely like I wrote it and forgot. Yes, its that absurd. Speaking of which I have been trying to do some writing, but as usual there are too many stories in my head and I don’t know which to get started on. I’d like to think one will pull away from the pack as being a fly away best seller so I don’t need to find a job, but that’s about as likely as me doing any form of exercize beyond blinking and walking. I have mastered the art of lazy.

Aaaaand apparently UOttawa wants $30 from me for reasons henceforth unknown. Probably all those times I locked myself out of residence which I was pretty sure I had paid for. Not too keen on that. But, but, but. L.A. finally got back to me and I may actually have a place to live next year. Hurrah and suchlike, beause I was starting to worry I was going to have to like on the street like most of my fellow philosophers (oh snap?) Fingers crossed this doesn’t fall through (again!) and I actually am not street bound, or Stanton bound. I was already senior citizen enough in res without adding another year on top of that. All those little seventeen-to-eighteen-year-olds scoffing at old twenty-almost-twenty-one year old, not nice.

I think I finally figured out what I’ve been doing wrong with Enth3 that it doesn’t e-mail me anymore, I think I have an extra “\” in there somewhere throwing off the space-time continuum. But let’s not talk about my Fanlistings, they all look like arse and it depresses me. Especially the Magical Mystery Tour — who let me put it on the internet looking like that? It looks so drab and more of ‘A Detailed Tour of Saskatchewan’ then anything Magical or Mysterious. (Sorry Saskatchewan, it’s just so easy…)

Anyways, I want to get to the bookstore so I can fix up some shelving and make a few bucks given no where in Southern Ontario will give me a job. So, I’m signing off.

This entry has nothing to do with reading, I’m almost done number four, but I don’t want my blog to be all book reviews (especially since I haven’t really gotten the hang of how to write a good review).

Does anyone remember MySpace? (Ha ha, internet snob joke). I have one, I’m serious, I don’t really “use it” (because very few honestly claim they still use their myspace) I do find it interesting that I have 41 friends on myspace and 281 on Facebook, which do YOU think is closer to the truth. But as I recall my myspace always had the default layout because I couldn’t be arsed to write a whole entire style sheet for one. (Oh, the horror, I know).

Anyways, my wonderful friend Sean, who is a brilliant guitarist has asked me to redesign his HisSpace… MySpace ish (http://myspace.com/hucksfin). And I’m just now trying to learn how to work this system. I mean it used to be retina scalding blue with a MS Paint banner, so I can’t do worse than that… but there are slight differences that are holding up the creative process. And I feel terrible because I really want this to look great for Sean. I’ve been thinking something in warm colours like brown and taupe, but I’m kind of just making this up. At any rate, I’d advice you to listen to his tunes, they’re great — not so much my style, but Sean and I have agreed to disagree on our music tastes. Like myself and Andrew, we like all the same bands but all opposite tracks.

In other news, I’m almost ready go face redesigning Empty Cage, and stop hiding behind Amber and the nice people at skindownloadland. Amber’s layout was way nicer than this one, but I’ve suddenly fallen in love with lighter layouts, and wanted EC to be bright for a bit. I’ve been reading a lot about webdesign the past little while because I’ve been wanting to evolve how all my websites look. I mean, comparing In Flames to Valour pretty much says it all for my web transformation.

The plan is that Empty Cage will become almost exclusively blog, hub, and personal details (with maybe some writing and stuff — but I have a fiction press account and a deviant art account that I can use for that…).  Let’s face it, what more was EC ever, really? My guides are entirely too smarmy to be much worth anything. And really, the blog is the only part I ever feel like updating. I hope to have http://27.empty-cage.net up soon for a small portfolio to show the people mum throws at me when they want a website designed. I want the root of the domain to be for me, but showing off the whining in my blog might be bad for business. Plus I’d feel like a twit sticking prices on here, given I am asses at webdesign compared to most of my friends — the only advantage I have is a good manager.

I hope to add more character Fansites to Empty Cage, and I think my next major project is Loyalties (the Regulus Black Fanlisting) while I polish off the Inuyasha manga at One Manga so Cursed can be properly done, and finish the Sailor Moon SNES game so I can finish that page for In Flames. Reducing EC to minimums gives me the time to focus on all my other pages that need some loving. I think one day I’d love to create a ‘full domain manager thing’ where the premise would be like wordpress but it can also create and manage all your subdomains. So, one log in panel and I can tweak a page on any site. Something like this probably already exists, but I’ve never seen it.

I’m getting back into my C++ again (which isn’t helpful for websites, but I enjoy it) because I was a master of things that never got out of the console, but, what I want to learn is programming in windows. I’m told PHP is a lot like C++ so maybe I can translate some of my skills into script writing. I’m not confident writing for the web though I’d fail and my script would get hacked and the interwebz would hate me. Seriously.

I’m also reading Calculus for Dummies, I’ve never taken Calculus before but for my Computer Science minor I have this phobia of everyone else being a calculus genius, and the best I can pull out of my arse being 1+1=5. Calculus I is not a required course, but I’m thinking about taking it anyways. Calculus, C++, 75 books, doesn’t my summer look fun? And I haven’t even found a job yet.

I think for once I’m going to finish a blog entry in its own time, I’m not distracted or just bored of writing, so yay me! Dad got a new monitor while I was at school and its one of those massively huge flat panel ones. Love it as I do it makes everything look small, and when I design on it I feel like I should fill it, which is such a bad idea. But it is very pretty, and I can see everything.

Anyways, I’m going to go read, and then maybe play some guitar!

This entry is going to be short, because I’m tired and don’t have much to say about this book really. It’s number three of the S75, and one I’ve been reading intermittantly for the past few days.

If nothing else I am reminded that Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) is not only probably insane, but that I agree with him enough that I am also probably insane. I definately laughed out loud and would reccomend this book to anyone looking for a good laugh. At times he tries to get serious, which throw the pacing off a little bit, but I guess it may be a bit soul destroying to be ‘all funny all the time’

Now for the review of my second book for the S75, Geektastic. While I admit that I have been going quite slowly I hope to pick things up from here on out.

The book Geektastic is a compilation of stories about — you guessed it — Geeks. And if nothing else the book captures the pure essence of what a geek really is. Almost all of the stories ring embarassingly true stopping just shy of the insecurity point. I think I might have cringed at the LARP part just a little bit because that was ‘too nerdy’ even for me. If nothing else Geektastic is a great reassurance that you aren’t alone in your fanaticism. And that other people do love the crazy things you do.

I think my biggest problem with the book was most of the stories followed pretty much the same formula the nerd had his/her day, got the guy/girl and all lived happily ever after. It’s like going to what promises to be a great potluck party, and having everyone only bring coleslaw. I mean the party’s still there, you are just forced to wonder why no one called ahead to make sure not everyone was bringing the same thing. I mean, I guess if you’re writing for the Geek niche having a geek fail and then get hit by a bus would probably not help your readership.

Another thing that caught my eye was Libba Bray’s story. (Don’t get me wrong on this I am a huge fangirl of her Gemma Doyle trilogy and am waiting on the edge of my seat for anything else she ever writes). It was spectacular of course, and came as close as any of them came to being really meaty and gritty but… put beside all the other stories well, it stood out as being geared towards a much older audience. It was pretty surreal, the other stories about high school bullying and Libba’s involving underage sex. All of which was fine with me but it doesn’t fit. Either the other stories needed to step it up a notch, or Libba needed to tone it down.

There are also some notable nerdities missing, no gamers except MMORPGs and no anime and manga which I found particularly odd in a book about nerds.

If nothing else you have to read this book if you’re a nerd because they ‘nail it’. The feelings you’ve had, the situations you’ve been in, generally speaking you’ll find at least one story you’ll relate to. Inversely, if nerdy things are not your thing I’d probably say give it a pass.

Up next 69!

Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mouth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats ye’ve spawned to replace yourself. Choose life.

The first book of the summer seventy five is Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting. A book about drug culture in Edinburgh.

Trainspotting was an obvious first choice for me, though I have yet to decide if I liked it or not. Maybe when I’m not marathoning I’ll take the time to read it again. I’ve been told time and time again that I will love the movie that is based off this book because it’s ‘weird’ and, well, if nothing else it is that written exclusively in the Scottish vernacular it became very endearing very quickly. It is conversational and confessional in nature and so reading it is more like being privvy to a conversation than reading a book.

It can, however, be a bit rocky to read. It certainly adds to the effect of the novel. You generally feel as disoriented as the junkie who you happen to be following, written in quick vignettes. You’ll occasionally be at a loss for who you happen to be following in the malestrom of Scots. I half wish I could ask an actual Scot who has read the novel if it is more comprehensible. The novel is endlessly impactful, constantly punching a huge windhole where you thought you might have had guts at one point.

Do I recommend it? Well, I think its a patient read, one that you need to want to read. If you’re willing to hack through the slang, drugs, sex, and cursing there is something undeniably unbreakable about the book. You read it and realise that depravity is in the eye of the beholder. The message is there should you care enough to dig it out.

For me there is of course the added appeal of it being set in Edinburgh, where I lived a few months. You recognize place names and just wish you were back there.

Whether you chose to read it or not you cannot deny the attachment of the novel to the indulging of your wicked side.

This summer, I have decided that I am going to read seventy-five new books. I know that’s not much of a big deal, considering I love reading, but in recent years my interest seems to have waned a bit (oh, god, don’t tell my mother). This is mostly due to the fact that I’ve been trying to learn and do new things, and reading brings be back to that really antisocial pocket of life where I had no friends. But the two can be married!

I hope to write a short review for each of the summer seventy-five here, just to keep my writing brain going as well as my reading one. I want to get out a few chapters for a few of the stories I’m writing. Do less random forum writing, and more practical stuff.

Obviously I want to keep up my website design here too.

Anyways, I thought once I wrote that in my blog I’d actually do it. So, Summer Seventy-Five kicking off with Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. Any reccomendations for books as offered by you, the internet, will be taken into consideration.