Coldness

It snowed! It's been AGES! (Damn you global warming). Kyaaaa!

Oh sweet remembrance of youth. You know you're getting old when you start spouting about back-in-the-day when you were a kid... but back in the day when I was little it used to snow like this once a week at the very least. Now it's always hot, which reminds me I live in a tropical country, but I missed the snow.

I Will Have Words

So I finished watching SPARTACUS Vengeance, and Blood and Sand and Gods of the Arena.
Wow. So... I don't want to say cool, because... all that blood, it's funny because it's too much, but I love the 300-type of art direction, it's beautifully epic.
Love the story too, with all the degenerate romans backstabbing each other and the world, and Spartacus and co. desperately trying to rise above (but doomed to fail). The drama is endless and oh-so-good.
Anyway, here's a good drinking game while watching Spartacus:

• One shot for every time someone gets hit in the face, their head turns with the impact, and blood spurts out. Two shots if said blood reaches the camera.
• One shot for every time someone "will have words".

You know you watch too much Spartacus when you start saying "gratitude" instead of thanks and "apologies" instead of sorry, or when you're happy about some achievement you start to sing "my cock rages on", LOL. But you know what's the best about this tv show? all the cursing!
Jupiter's cock!
Quintus Batiatus was a quote machine too. Pretty much every time he said anything it was awesome (in its crudeness, horrible most), and the fact that the actor committed and sold his lines. All that spreading of cheeks while the gods ram cock in ass... hilarious.
So now, what will happen in Spartacus? what's left? he will have to recruit, finally, and build his army, and the romans will come and... win. *BIG SIGH*.
History tells us that after the battles, all the spartacus people that were left alive got crucified. Ugh. Well, that's history for you. I wonder how the show will spin it to give us some semblance of a happy ending... but... will they give a happy ending? should they give a happy ending? The show is supposed to be an accurate depiction of what might have happened, the logical conclusion is that they will not give the audience a happy ending.
Blood! Kill them All! (that's what it's all about).
Besides, Spartacus' personal vendetta is over, and Crixus' too (and Naevia's, and Gannicus', and Agron's... wait... Agron... ha! I predict in the next season Nasir will be killed and Agron will want his revenge. They killed the other gay couple - Barca and Pietros).
Anyway. they killed Oenomaus. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!! (at least he died in battle).

Here are some Spartacus pearls of wisdom (aka quotes):
"The serpent comes in, walking as if human." (Batiatus, on Ilithya).
"It's no easy task to sever a man's head... you must find the right angle." (Crixus, to Naevia, on fighting).
"Proper is a word forged by men who would seek to enslave us with it." (Lucretia, on being a proper woman).
"You kiss my cheek only to finger my ass?" (Batiatus, on Spartacus' demands).
"There is only one way to become a champion, never fucking lose." (Gannicus, on being a champion gladiator).
"Come... the task should not be that difficult; I need only direct my blades towards the smell of shit." (Gannicus, on fighting an opponent blindfolded).
"There is but one path. We kill them all." (Spartacus, on gaining freedom).
"A man is never too weak or too wounded to fight, as long as the cause is greater than his own life." (Oenomaus, on fighting the romans).



Andy Whitfield, R.I.P.

So, books for this year...

That I plan to follow:

    * Timeless - Gail Carriger - 01 March 2012.
    * Soul Bound (blood coven) - Mari Mancusi - 06 March 2012.
    * Fair Game - Patricia Briggs - 06 March 2012.
    * Lover Reborn - J.R. Ward - 27 March 2012.
    * Wanted: Undead or Alive - Kerrelyn Sparks - 27 March 2012.
    * Under a Vampire Moon - Lynsay Sands - 24 April 2012.
     * Shine - Jeri Smith-Ready - 01 May 2012.
    * Sparks Fly - Katie MacAlister - 01 May 2012.
    * Black Dawn - Rachel Caine - 01 May 2012.
    * Tangle of Need - Nalini Singh - 29 May 2012.
    * Deadlocked - Charlaine Harris - May 2012.
    * Wicked Nights - Gena Showalter - June 2012.
    * Kiss the Dead - Laurell K. Hamilton - June 2012.
    * Thriteen - Kelley Armstrong - July 2012.
    * Lady Is A vamp - Lynsay Sands - 31 July 2012.
    * Kitty Steals the Show - Carrie Vaughn - August 2012.
    * Shadow's Claim - Kresley Cole - August 2012.
    * Biting Cold - Chloe Neill - August 2012.
    * A Tale of Two Vampires - Katie MacAlister - 04 September 2012.

Oh, the Humanity.

So Twinings changed their formula for their Earl Grey Tea.

Apparently, it now tastes (and smells) like dishwater.

I'd like to have a test of my own, with an old bag of the original blend and a new bag with the "evolved" more lemony taste Twinings says they changed it to. Just to see, you know, just to be fair.

But I'm so sure it's dishwater... because it's bergamot we're talking about here, people.

The perfume industry has been suffering from this for a long time now, thanks to IFRA's mandates.

I'd not be against some of it if it was for the preservation of our natural resources, or some truly altruistic objective they had, for changing and forbidding the use of certain natural oils and such in various industries, but let's be real here, when it comes to industries... it's all about money, money deals, politics and all and all MONEY.

Now Twinings Earl Grey fans has suffered, the company has changed a formula that they had kept true (or I think they did until now, I mean who knows the secret inner workings of food companies anyway) in an attempt to "revitalize" it (i.e. MONEY, we want mo'money).

You would think, when it comes to companies like Twinings, that make such a big deal out of keeping the history of it intact, proud, the good old english, royal seal and all, that they would continue to do so, but nope.

Oh, The Humanity.

So, what's next? will fake artificial flavours continue to invade everything? I'm thinking yes.  Hellz, we have fake food everywhere, I mean, it's impossible to evade transgenic products, if they come out of the field already changed, what's stopping them from being used in processed food? Parts of the world have so much food they waste it while others continue to die without it, but that's another topic altogether, I digress...

As a costumer, I have had my fair share of disappointments with favorite processed food products. They get changed and it's not the same. The old flavours get lost in our collective memories never to see the light again. Kids have the advantages of not having lived long enough to long for their own favorites continuing to taste the same, but just you wait! Because as time passes, so will the world change, and with it everything you love.

I'm feeling pessimistic now. So what. 

Inspiration images.

While writing Sunset Coven, this images gave me some ideas... Like putting the greek gods into it, and one of the dodekathlon tasks. And Jime's ultimate wishes...

The Troll Hunter! I liked that movie. It was cool, this was how the blair witch project should have been like.

Kylie Minogue's tour Les Folies, it was good (I wish I had seen it in real life).

A video Jime has favorited on youtube that she secretly watches on her iPhone.

Oh, and some vampire comedy (from the movie "Suck").

LOL.

Kiss of Snow

So I finished reading Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh and Summer's Crossing by Julie Kagawa.

First, a few words for the Iron Fey: loved Puck, as I knew I would, but really... I'm kinda getting tired of the love triangle, I hope it won't continue on "The Iron Knight". Other than that the novella was sweet. And I always forget to mention Leananshide, she's all kinds of awesome darlings! Even if she treats us humans like crap, but hey, she wouldn't be Fey otherwise.

Now for Kiss of Snow:
Right-o! Sienna and Hawke got their HEA. The surprise for me came with Walker and Lara though, get got 2 wolves popping psy cherries instead of one! LOL. I loved their story.
Meanwhile, as I kept reading, when Judd was telling Hawke of some of the torture Ming put nine-year-old Sienna through... I know it was wrong of me, but I laughed when he said:
"What better way to teach a child control than to put her in a room designed to blow up with her inside if she got something wrong."
LOL.
Speaking of Judd, so he knew who the Ghost is, told Hawke, and even the Ghost himself knows Judd knows... who the heck is he??!!?! I still think it's Kaleb, since he wants control of everything, and the Ghost seems to want that too, but there's no confirmation, argh!!
Anyway, dear niece suri, you were right, Judd kicked ass! when the Rats where commenting the battle, and what Judd was doing, damn! He's awesome ♥♥♥

But there's so many questions still in the air with the whole story, the future, it's frustrating!
And so we learn at the end that Hawke's last name is Snow, cute. I see what you did there, Ms. Singh. LOL.

Awake by Wendy Raven McNair.

Ok, so last night I finished reading the second instalment of Wendy Raven McNair's Asleep trilogy, "Awake".

It is SO GOOD. I love Adisa, she shines in a sea filled with selfish stupid YA heroines as a beacon of all that is good, and she's NOT a mary sue. A feat only a few writers can pull off.

I like that even when she's overwhelmed with adversity, overcome in one of her "rages", with everyone around her man-handling her, or keeping her in the dark, or basically using her for their own purposes, she still manages to think, to keep her priorities straight, to never lose sight of what she wants.
And when she makes mistakes she realizes them and she does her best to make it better, to apologize, to learn from the experience.
She doesn't lie to herself, even when she compartmentalizes, like Pearl.

Speaking of Pearl. OMG. I kind of figured Adisa would have to go to extremes to get out of Kubanza, but gosh, when the moment came... it had me in tears!
Also, I'm having a hard time making the Sps as the bad guys, as Adisa seemed determined to do in the beginning. It's not just "cultural differences" that separates earthbounds from them. It's so much more. It's gonna be pretty interesting reading how Adisa will make sense of both her heritages merged in herself, which is what I think will have to come next (after she saves Micah, of course, LOL).

And Micah *melts* that boy- sorry, that man... how dreamy can he be? even with the Sp. creepiness- sorry, cultural differences... LOL. I was starting to mourn when he became Guardian and the whole permanent shield, and then he goes and kisses Adisa like he used to... AWWWW!!!
Ok, that felt a bit like forced HEA, but the kids deserve it, dammit!
I mean, The Authorities making an exception just for him? it sounds too good to be true if you ask me, suspicious.

Anyway. This series rocks. That's the bottom line. Thank you dear niece for sharing it with me *hugs* ♥♥♥

P.D.: LOL, I'm ashamed to say... that I'm gonna have to google King Musa, just like Adisa. Oh, and the "cinnamon balls" joke, still cracks me up like a juvenile.